Christmas fluff Camelot style
by yogini
Summary: A series of fluffy and cute Christmas and winter related stories. Each shapter contains different characters, pairings and scenarios and lots of holiday spirit, wintery fun and sweet love... Warnings: Um, cavity inducing sweetness and an overdose of fluff?
1. Disastrous date, dazzling diabetic

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

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**Disastrous date, dazzling diabetic, delicious dessert**

Gwaine and Percival go on a date...

* * *

"Who doesn't like candied apples?" Gwaine asked surprised and stopped in his track to look at his date. They were at a Christmas fair and every single thing that he'd offered to Percival had been turned down. He knew that the large man worked out a lot, (hell, it had been the muscles that drew Gwaine's attention in the first place because yes please, fuck me into the mattress with deep, hard thrusts from those massive thighs, thank you very much…), and that he was bound to be careful about his diet but Gwaine honestly didn't think that anyone would be that picky. Percival had turned down both marshmallows roasted over the fire and hot chocolate with whipped cream as well as rum cake and gingerbread cookies. Gwaine had a massive sweet tooth and he was always giddy with excitement (and the sugar rush) all through the holiday season. There were so many good, sweet things around that it made this his favourite time of the year.

"I'm diabetic" Percival said, shifting uncomfortably when he saw Gwaine's face falling and hurried to cut off the excuse that was on the tip of Gwaine's tongue.

"Listen, don't feel bad about it, you couldn't know that."

"But I should have… something" Gwaine finished lamely and Percival lifted an eyebrow, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Should have something?" he asked and Gwaine shrugged.

"I should have brought you something without sugar for dessert if I'd known, I didn't mean to go around pointing out every single thing here that you can't eat, I… umphf." Percival had moved in close and cut of Gwaine's chatter by pressing his lips, first softly and then more demanding, against the mouth of the other man. Gwaine's beard tickled him slightly and he couldn't help running his fingers through it lightly as they broke the kiss to get some air.

"Wow" Gwaine gasped and tried to get his bearings, which was difficult because now Percival had begun to press light, teasing kisses to the side of his throat and Gwaine felt that he'd begun to grow hard where he stood pressed tightly against Percival's tall, well-muscled body.

"I feel much more like having you for dessert" Percival murmured in his ear, his voice a low, husky growl that made Gwaine shiver, not from being outside in the cold but from anticipation.

"Why don't we move this somewhere less public then?" he suggested trying to sound casual even though his heart beat a million miles a minute and Percival nodded.

"Sounds like a good idea" he agreed and with a possessive arm firmly around Gwaine's waist they walked towards the car.

It was decidedly later and after they'd had their dessert they laid back, sated and content, until Gwaine started squirming uncomfortably.

"What's wrong?" Percival asked frowning and Gwaine sighed and then stilled.

"I was just thinking that just because you're diabetic that doesn't mean that I have to stop eat sweets too, right?" Percival smiled and pulled him closer again.

" 'Course not."


	2. Merlin, mulled wine and mistletoe

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

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**Merlin, mulled wine and mistletoe**

Pretty much what it says on the tin…

* * *

"Are you drunk?" Arthur asked as Merlin started giggling again, this time apparently because a log in the fireplace 'looked like one of Gwaine's boots.' Arthur decided not to question what it was, exactly, that made it look just like Gwaine's boot and not anyone else's and focused on Merlin's flushed cheeks and how his lips were stained dark red from the mulled wine. He tried to remember, how much wine had Merlin really drunk? He didn't think that it was overly much, but on the other hand his manservant had proved to be somewhat of a lightweight when it came to drinking…

"No, sire" Merlin said and then hiccupped. "Not at all."

"The fact that you're swaying while sitting down would suggest otherwise, _Merlin_" Arthur retorted and stuck out his hand. "Here, give me the cup. You've clearly had enough already."

"No, it's mine" Merlin said, pouting childishly and protectively hunching over the cup, with the result that the warm wine sloshed all over his tunic. "Oups" he giggled and it was easy for Arthur to pluck the cup from his hands while he was distracted. "Hey! I wanted that."

"As if anyone needed more proof that you've had enough" Arthur murmured, rolling his eyes, and placed the cup well out of reach of the suddenly very sullen manservant who made not very successful grabby hands to retrieve his drink.

"Let's get you to bed, shall we?" He placed his arms around Merlin's waist and hauled him up to stand. Realizing that the manservant was about as steady at his feet as a new-born colt and Arthur decided against taking him back to Gaius. There was a non-negligible risk that both of them would fall down a flight of stairs if they attempted to walk to the physician's room and Arthur's bed was large enough for two people anyway. And not that Arthur would ever admit it, not even under torture, but he didn't mind sharing his bed with Merlin. The manservant was tall and gangly, all angles and sharp elbows, but it was rather nice when he snuggled close to absorb more of Arthur's body heat and the king had begun to gain a reputation of being perpetually cold on campaigns, judging from how often his manservant shared his bedroll.

Still holding Merlin upright with one hand, he used the other one to carefully pull off the wine soaked tunic. He hung it over the back of a chair to dry and when he turned back his breath hitched momentarily. The light from the fire danced over Merlin's naked upper body and donned a warm glow to the pale skin. The shadows made his cheekbones stand out sharply and his lips were so very plush and inviting. They would taste of the mulled wine they'd drunk, Arthur thought, and of the cinnamon almonds that were Merlin's favourites, and he licked his own lips unconsciously.

"Mistletoe" Merlin said softly, looking towards the ceiling and Arthur tore his gaze away from his manservant's lips, instead looking into his piercingly blue eyes. They radiated warmth and love and Arthur found himself leaning in even closer, pressing his lips so very softly, so very carefully against Merlin's. The manservant gasped softly, pulled Arthur in closer still and opened his mouth, inviting Arthur's tongue to caress and play with his own. The kisses grew more and more intense until both men panted slightly and Arthur pushed Merlin down on the soft bed, covering Merlin's thin frame with his own body.

It was much later and the fire had almost died out, only a few embers still glowed. Arthur lightly traced a path over Merlin's hip with the tips of his fingers and Merlin leaned in to his touch.

"I can hear you thinking, you know" Merlin then said and Arthur stopped his hand and let it rest lightly cupped over the hip bone.

"You weren't really that drunk, were you?" Arthur asked.

"No" Merlin simply answered.

"Then why did you act like it?" Arthur asked frowning and Merlin looked a little sheepish.

"I really wanted to kiss you tonight and I wasn't sure how you'd react so I figured that I could always say I was too drunk to know what I was doing, if it ended badly" he explained and Arthur huffed.

"Idiot."

"Prat" Merlin retorted sleepily and then added: "Also, I kind of like it when you take care of me like that" and Arthur pulled him closer.

"I'll always take care of you" he promised.


	3. The problems with Christmas presents

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

Author's note:  
Ok, so maybe not as fluffy as the rest, at least not in the beginning, but the ending is pretty cute... If you're into that kind of things ;-)

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**The problems with Christmas presents**

Gwaine wants to get Arthur something nice for Christmas but he royally messes things up and Arthur is none too pleased with his boyfriend's actions…

* * *

"Arthur, I'm so…" Gwaine started saying but was almost immediately interrupted by his boyfriend.

"Not now, Gwaine" Arthur snapped sharply and when Gwaine dared a sideways glance he saw that Arthur's jaw was clenched and he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles whitened. Gwaine closed his eyes and leaned back against the headrest, silently berating himself. How could he have been so _stupid_?

It wasn't until they'd gotten out of the car, into the fancy building were Arthur lived and closed the apartment door behind them that Arthur spoke again. Or shouted, more like.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking, Gwaine?"

"I…" Gwaine started but was interrupted again.

"Did you even think _at all_?

"Well, I…"

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Well nothing, obviously, as you keep interrupting me!" Gwaine shouted back and immediately regretted it as Arthur's posture went rigid and Gwaine could've sworn that he could see tiny wisps of smoke emerging from Arthur's nostrils. No a good sign, and he hurried to hold up a placating hand.

"I just meant that... Please let me explain." Arthur coldly raised his eyebrows and made a gesture that Gwaine interpreted as 'go on.'

"I just wanted to get you something nice for Christmas" he said quietly and as soon as the words had left his mouth he heard Arthur give out a strangled cry.

"And why the _fuck_ did you…?" Arthur paused and made a heroic effort of reigning in his temper. "Let's sit down" he said and abruptly turned on is heel to stomp into the living room, Gwaine trailing after him and feeling like a naughty child who's in for a serious scolding. Arthur threw himself down on the couch and waited until Gwaine had sat down as well.

"All right" Arthur said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If you wanted to give me something nice, I would have been happy with anything you'd bought me. Gwaine, I don't understand, why would you try to steal me a gift?" Gwaine mumbled his answer, eyes firmly fixed on the grey carpet and nervously twisting his hands in his lap.

"Pardon?"

"I said, I couldn't afford to buy them" Gwaine repeated louder, looking thoroughly deflated.

"But you didn't have to…" Arthur began but Gwaine interrupted him, letting loose a stream of words.

"I wanted to give you something nice, and you've been talking about how you need a new pair but never have the time to go shopping and I thought it would be a good gift, but when I saw how much they were I realized that I could never afford it and, I don't know, I just, sort of, took them. I didn't think, somehow they were in my pocket and then security came running and then you and…" Gwaine hung his head when he felt the cushions dip and Arthur moved closer, he couldn't bear to look his boyfriend in the eyes right now.

"Oh, love" Arthur sighed, pulling his unresisting boyfriend into a hug. "Does it really bother you that much that I have money and you don't?" Gwaine nodded into Arthur's chest.

"You know I don't care about that, Gwaine."

"Your posh friends all call me a gold digger and I just wanted to show them for once, to prove that I am really your boyfriend and not some unemployed charity case."

"I don't think stealing me a pair of expensive cufflinks is going to improve the way my friends look at you" Arthur murmured a bit drily and Gwaine felt even guiltier.

"What happens now?" He didn't really want to know the answer but he felt that he had to ask all the same. He didn't exactly think that he'd be sent to prison but for all he knew, Arthur's dad might very well use this incident to break them up once and for all. Uther had never made a secret of the fact that he didn't approve of Arthur's boyfriend. An uneducated, currently between jobs, actor was not the partner that Uther had envisioned for his son, especially if said partner just had been caught in flagrante delicto, stealing in a high end designer store.

"Oh well, I don't know" Arthur said. "I expect tomorrows headline in the papers will be something along the line of 'Celebrity barrister's boyfriend caught stealing' or maybe they'll use the term 'toy boy' instead…"

"Arthur!" Gwaine exclaimed in horror before he saw that his boyfriend was laughing. "You asshole, this isn't funny" he scowled and tried to get off the couch but Arthur only tightened his hold.

"Sorry, love, but you sort of deserved it" Arthur said, still smiling slightly and Gwaine was forced to admit that he was right. "Don't worry, I spoke to the store manager and they'll not press charges or make a big deal out of this, provided that this never happens again." The last bit had a none too concealed warning added to it and Gwaine got the message loud and clear.

"Thank God." He exhaled deeply and felt his muscles relax for the first time in many hours. "I promise you, I'll never even go near that place again."

Arthur let him be, just holding him and stroking his hair and for a while the two of them just settled into a comfortable silence.

After a while Arthur hand came to rest on Gwaine's chin and gently tilted it so that he could look into his boyfriend's eyes.

"But Gwaine? We still have a small problem with this situation, I'm afraid."

"Wait, what?" Gwaine felt a surge of panic and tried to scramble free but Arthur tightened his grip, grinning like a hunter would as he laid eyes on his prey. "You've been a very bad boy" he continued in that deep, low voice that sent shivers down Gwaine's spine, "and if you don't want to end up on Santa's naughty list this year you better be ready for your punishment." Gwaine swallowed and nodded.

"Go on then, love, on the bed, face down. I think it's time someone had a real good spanking."


	4. Magic Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

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**Magic Christmas **

Arthur is visiting a shelter for the homeless where Merlin work as a volunteer and for a few hours he gets to rest from his life on the streets, and a new chance.

* * *

"Mind if I join you?" Arthur gave a non-committal grunt without looking up and continued shovelling food into his mouth. He knew that he should slow down but he hadn't had a decent meal in days and on the place before him was a lovely Christmas turkey with cranberries and potatoes and it was just too good.

"Thank you" The person sat down, ignoring Arthur's lack of enthusiasm and tucked into his own food. It wasn't until Arthur's plate was emptied of the last morsel that he looked up and realized that the voice belonged to a raven-haired man, about his own age, with the most gorgeous cheekbones and the most ridiculous ears that Arthur had seen in a very long time.

"Merlin?" he scoffed, reading the name tag on the man's (very nice, snugly fitting) blue V-neck sweater. "What kind of a name is that?"

"An old family name" the man answered calmly, raising an eyebrow. "And what might your name be, you prat?" Arthur sputtered ginger ale over the table.

"I'm not a prat!"

"Well, what are you then? What do you call a person that insults other's names, grunts at them and also displays appallingly poor table manners, I might add?" Merlin asked casually, eyeing the mess on the table and Arthur actually felt a bit ashamed. He mopped it up with a napkin and cleared his throat.

"I'm Arthur" he said quietly and Merlin immediately held out his hand.

"Nice to meet you Arthur" he said and Arthur hesitantly shook it.

Although they hadn't gotten off to the best of starts they spent mote of the afternoon together and Arthur discovered that Merlin was incredibly easy to talk to (and not to mention easy on the eye but that wasn't really the most important thing on Arthur's mind right now, still a little looking never hurt, right?). He learnt that Merlin was indeed as old as himself, that he was studying to become a neonatal nurse and that he had volunteered at the shelter for just over four years now. Then came the question that Arthur dreaded.

"Arthur, what brings you here?" He sat silently for a while before simply answering:

"My father." Merlin didn't need to know the whole story about Uther Pendragon falling out with his only because he was gay and how he'd been cut off from the family fortune, blacklisted as an employee and, after he'd been unable to find a place to live, ended up living on the streets.

"You know we also provide counselling here, to help people get back on their feet, right?" Merlin said, cutting through his thoughts, and looking at Arthur with those blue eyes in a way that made Arthur squirm uncomfortably, feeling as if Merlin could see right through him.

"Yeah. But can we, um, could we talk of something else maybe?"

"Of course" Merlin smiled. "Do you play chess?" 

"Merlin!" A blonde woman waved in the direction of their table and Merlin started to rise, smiling apologetically.

"I need to go, I'm supposed to help cleaning the kitchen" he said and Arthur tried not to show how disappointed he was. For a few hours he'd actually felt normal and he was reluctant to face his normal life again.

"Yeah, of course" he said. "Merry Christmas, Merlin."

"Merry Christmas, Arthur."

A couple of days later Arthur was back at the shelter and he was lucky, there was a room available for him to stay the night. The tension slowly seeped out of his muscles when he realized that tonight he'd get to sleep in a bed, a warm, soft bed, and without having to worry about being robbed.

After a good night's sleep and some breakfast he readied himself to head back out on the streets, a little disappointed that Merlin had not been working that evening. Just as he picked up his bag a woman he didn't recognize walked up to him.

"Arthur?" she asked and he looked up.

"Yes" he answered verily, not knowing who she was or what she wanted. Maybe he was being paranoid but his father could easily bribe anyone and he wasn't about to let his guard down.

"Merlin asked me to give you this" she said and handed him a small envelope with his name written on it, in a large, messy scrawl. Arthur was too surprised to thank her and seeing that all his attention was focused on the envelope she just smiled and left.

He carefully opened it, then stared at the contents in shock. It was a small note and a train ticket.

"_I couldn't stop thinking about the look in your eyes when you told me about the holiday when you and your mother went to France and how much you enjoyed it. Have a nice trip and eat a croissant for me as well =)_

_Merlin"_

Arthur could feel the smile spreading over his face. He was going to France.

Christmas Eve, four years later

Arthur walked into the very same shelter where he'd spent his last Christmas in Britain before leaving for France and looked around uncertainly. The place looked almost exactly the same, yet so much time had passed and he didn't really know what to do and who to talk to. Then he spotted someone with a blue sweater and dark hair. Grinning he made his way over to the table, picking up a cup of coffee on the way.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Of course" Merlin looked up and smiled and when his eyes fell on Arthur they widened with recognition. "Arthur?" he said, a bit shocked. "You… you look well."

"I am well" Arthur answered, thinking about the small town where he lived, his job and the apartment that he shared with a friend. "I just wanted to tell you about it. So, how about a game of chess?"

"Absolutely" Merlin answered, beaming.


	5. Silent night, thoughtful night

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Silent night, thoughtful night**

Gwaine contemplates his life as he watches the winter's first snow.

* * *

Gwaine could feel it now, the familiar feeling spreading through his body. It was the restless tingling in his legs, the way he woke up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason and it was the little voice in his head telling him that he'd stayed too long already and that it was time to go. It poked and prodded until he couldn't resist it anymore and got out of bed, pacing around the room.

He'd lived most of his life like that. Always been the wanderer, the restless one, always on his way to someplace else and whenever he came too close to settling down his instincts had spurred him onwards, forward, away from the old and into the great unknown that was life.

His instincts had served him well. It was dangerous to stay to long in one place, dangerous to grow too attached to people, for the day when you had to leave always came sooner or later and the affection that you held for someone could be wielded as a weapon against you. Caring for someone meant that their pain was also your pain and that made you weak. Gwaine had realized early in life that the best way to avoid getting hurt was to never let anyone close enough to actually be able to worm their way inside your heart, and that's how he'd lived. Always the boisterous one, always the merry, but also always the one keeping people at arm's length.

He'd had a good life, and he hadn't wished for it to be different. But then something changed. And suddenly it wasn't enough anymore.

Gwaine sighed and stayed, leaning against the windowsill and looking out into the night. The moon was full and spread its light over the citadel and the forests beyond. It had snowed earlier that day, but it had been only a few snowflakes, and most of them had melted as soon as they touched the ground. Merlin had attempted to make a snow man before the Midwinter celebrations but he'd had to give up because there wasn't enough snow and Gwaine smiled when he remembered how Merlin had pouted, looking like a disappointed child.

Apparently it had begun snowing again during the night and now the whole world was covered in a soft, white blanket of snow that glimmered as it caught the light of the moon. Stars sparkled across the sky and not a sound was heard. The whole of Camelot, if not the world, was asleep and left Gwaine to marvel at the beauty of this night alone.

But even if he was standing there alone, he wasn't on his own anymore. At last someone had managed to pierce the walls that he'd built around himself, had managed to sneak up on him, and on his heart, and by the time Gwaine realized what had happened he wouldn't change it for the world. He had a place where he belonged now, people to call his family and he had someone who loved him for who he was. And when the restlessness came over him he just accepted the fact that old habits die hard and then settled back down again, because right now he was exactly where he was meant to be.

"Gwaine?" Merlin mumbled sleepily. "Are you coming back to bed?"

"Of course." And when Gwaine slid down under the covers and into Merlin's warm embrace he knew that he was finally home.


	6. Fluffy feline, fuzzy feelings

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Fluffy feline, fuzzy feelings**

Merlin wants a cat and Arthur doesn't think that's a good idea…

* * *

"No" Arthur said exasperated, trying not to look at his boyfriend. He knew that if he looked into those pleading blue eyes he'd be done for in no time at all. "No, we're not getting a cat and that's final."

"But why?" Merlin whined, pouting and looking like a five year old kid whose parents told him he couldn't have any more candy. Arthur sighed.

"You know why." They'd been through the reasons over and over again over the past few weeks and he was getting tired of the discussion. He worked long hours and travelled quite often. Merlin was in the final stage of his education and had lots of exams, and soon he'd be spending most of his time at a hospital doing his professional practice. There was simply no room for a cat in their life right now.

"We could get a sitter for the cat" Merlin said, as if reading Arthur's thoughts.

"And when that person is on holiday or gets ill or moves to another town? We'll just make ourselves really dependant on others."

"Then we can find another one. And there are boarding catteries as well" Merlin retorted stubbornly. "You just don't want to be bothered with it."

And that was true. While Arthur didn't exactly look forward to finding coughed up hairballs in his bed or cleaning a smelly litter box (but Merlin would be the one to take care of those things anyway) that was not the problem. The problem was all the extra responsibilities that came with being a cat owner. If he'd get a cat Arthur didn't want it to be left alone too much, or handed around to more or less enthusiastic sitters or checked in to a cattery with some polite but impersonal staff. He wanted it to have a real home and he didn't think that they could provide that during this stage of their lives.

He must have said the last sentence out loud since Merlin snorted loudly.

"And when can we, when we're retired?" he snapped. "Do you really think that I want it to be miserable and lonely, or that I would get a cat if I didn't know it would have a good life?" He stalked off towards the bedroom with a venomous glare in Arthur's direction and when Arthur joined him some time later, Merlin was already in bed and had his back turned, facing the wall.

"Merlin, you know I would, if I thought that…?"

"But it's not just about what you think, is it?" Merlin interrupted him. "You just don't listen to me, do you? I told you that our neighbour would love to help, she's feeling lonely and would love to have some company and one of my classmates volunteer at an animal shelter that offers boarding for pets as well. It's a good place, I've been there. We could make it work, if only you wanted to." Then Merlin pulled the duvet up over his ears and proceeded to ignore Arthur, who yanked his pillow from the bed and went to sleep on the couch. He clearly wasn't going to get any tonight, thanks to that damn cock-blocker of a cat.

The next morning Merlin had already left by the time that Arthur woke up, and how he managed to do that without waking half the building was a mystery to Arthur, since Merlin could easily fall over when walking on an even pavement, not to mention going through an apartment with stuff on the floors to trip over or bump into.

"Wonders never cease" he murmured to himself as he got ready and went to work. As they day wore on, Arthur found it increasingly difficult to concentrate because all he could see was Merlin's unhappy face and all he could think of was how disappointed Merlin had sounded the day before. Swearing, he quickly punched in a number on his cell phone and left work early. He had something to take care of.

When Merlin returned from class that evening he was met at the door by his unusually nervous and fiddling boyfriend.

"What the matter?" he asked, for a second forgetting that he was still angry with Arthur. "Are you ill?" He put his hand on Arthur's forehead and frowned when he realized that his boyfriend was a bit hot and clammy.

"Yes, I mean no, I mean I'm fine, I think…" Arthur babbled and Merlin looked even more worried.

"Are you sure that…?" he started but Arthur interrupted him.

"It's just that I wanted to do this, and I know how important Christmas is to you, but I checked with all of them, and it's all right so it should work and I'm sorry and I hope you don't mind, because it's December, right?" Arthur looked at him nervously and Merlin was at loss of what to say.

"Eh… You sure you're okay?" he managed at last and his boyfriend just stared at him.

"Yes!" he said impatiently. "Are you coming or what?"

"Um, I guess?" Still confused Merlin tossed the coat onto a chair, toed off his trainers ("really, Merlin, it's December for goodness's sake, why aren't you wearing the boots that I bought you?") and unwrapped the long, knitted scarf from around his neck. Arthur impatiently ushered him into the living room and Merlin felt his jaw drop.

The whole living room had been cleaned from the haphazardly strewn books and the odd bits and pieces that normally adorned the coffee table, the socks on the floor was gone and so was the dinner plates from last night. A fire was burning and beside the hearth stood a large Christmas tree, all decorated in gold and red. Under the tree was a big pile, in fact a whole mountain, of gifts. Merlin swallowed and looked at them, as they were obviously not for him, he didn't know what to say and just opened and closed his mouth. Under the tree was a soft blanket with paw prints on, toys of every imaginable size and model, bags and bags of cat treats and food, matching bowls for food and water a red collar and a small cat house with a soft bed and plush, fluffy cushions.

"Well," Arthur said nervously. "You like it?" When Merlin still didn't say anything and just looked around Arthur started babbling again.

"The decorations in the tree are all safe for cats, I asked at the shelter, and the tree is secured in the ceiling, if the cat climbs in it so it doesn't topple and…" His voice died away. "Well?" he prompted. "Say something then!"

"I… I don't really know what to say" Merlin said, still slightly shocked. "What cat?"

"Our cat, of course" Arthur answered, looking as if Merlin was stupid. When Merlin continued to look bewildered Arthur sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry about yesterday and I've sort of changed my mind, I called the neighbour and talked to her and I went to the shelter and it looked nice so we could make it work. And then I thought that it would be nice if it was a Christmas present, only it isn't really Christmas yet, but I hope you didn't mind that I bought the tree a little early and…" He was cut off by Merlin who threw himself into Arthur's arms and claimed his lips in a fierce, almost bruising kiss and Arthur was slightly out of breath when Merlin reluctantly pulled away at last.

"So where is it then?" he asked, eyes shining with excitement.

"What?" Arthur answered, still trying to recover what was left of his brain after that kiss and now it was Merlin turn to look at Arthur as if he was stupid.

"Our cat?"

"Oh." Arthur looked at his boyfriend with a smile. "I couldn't very well pick one without you, could I? I thought we could adopt one from the shelter, together."


	7. Gwaine and the candy cane

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Gwaine and the candy cane**

Percival tries to get some work done and Gwaine's not helping at all…

* * *

"Oh, Percival, look what I found." Percival looked up to see his boyfriend sauntering into the living room, teasingly waving a red and white piece of candy.

"A candy cane" Percival said uninterestedly, eyes already back on his laptop. "Fantastic." He really needed to finish his report and having Gwaine around didn't do anything to speed up the process.

"Ah, come on, don't be like that" Gwaine pouted, throwing himself down on the couch next to his boyfriend. "I love this stuff." With great enthusiasm he unwrapped the candy and shoved it into his mouth. After a couple of licks he offered to Percival.

"Want some?" His boyfriend only grunted and shook his head. "Come on, have some, it's really good" Gwaine continued, moving even closer.

"No." Percival butted his shoulder against Gwaine's and pushed his boyfriend back against the cushions. "Stop distracting me."

"You're no fun at all tonight" Gwaine grumbled.

"I told you I had work to do" Percival reminded him and Gwaine rolled his eyes.

"We'll see about that" he murmured and then he went to work.

He started out slowly, by flicking small licks all over the piece of candy and then moving on to longer strokes, all while he moaned and panted softly.

"I know what you're trying to do, Gwaine" Percival said and moved away a bit. "It's not going to work." But Gwaine could already hear that it worked, because his boyfriend's voice had a slight strain to it and he had to force himself to keep looking at the laptop screen, and that convinced Gwaine to go in for the kill. Moving up so close he was almost draped over Percival's lap, he slowly slid the candy cane into his mouth, all the time keeping eye contact with his boyfriend. Then he smiled briefly before sucking at the candy. Hard. He heard Percival's breath hitch at the sight of his lips wrapped around the sugary cane and his cheeks all hollowed out and Gwaine knew right then that his boyfriend was truly done for.

"You fucking tease!"

Abruptly Percival pushed the laptop aside and Gwaine suddenly found himself on his back, pinned to the couch by the larger man. A hard kiss, almost punishing, was pressed to his lips as Percival tore at their clothes.

"I'll give you something to suck on all right" he growled as he undid his zipper and brusquely shoved his jeans down. Gwaine just smiled and licked his lips.

"Bring it on then."


	8. Freudian slip

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Freudian slip**

A blonde knight walks on thin ice and what seems to be disaster at first actually turns into something really good.

* * *

They'd been out on patrol for over a fortnight and while he'd never confess it, Leon was desperate to get back to Camelot. It was a harsh winter, with short days deprived of sun and long dark nights, and twice they'd been forced to stop and take cover to wait for a vicious snow storm to pass. But as nice as it would be to actually be to sleep in warm bed, wear dry clothes and not constantly have to remove ice from his beard that wasn't the main reason he longed to get back to the castle. The real reason for that was Gwaine.

It had been all right as long as they travelled in a large group of men but a couple of days ago they had split up in pairs, both to be able to travel quicker and to attract less attention, and Leon had found himself paired with Gwaine. From then on the normally unpleasant winter patrol had turned into Leon's personal version of hell.

Because Gwaine was a perpetual flirt and Leon had to quietly watch as he tried to charm anything and anyone they met, leaving Leon by himself.

Because the cold nights forced them to share a bedroll so that none of them would freeze to death during the night, and Leon almost died of shame when he noticed just how much the other knight's closeness affected certain parts of his anatomy.

Because he had to watch Gwaine drink his part of the soup first and couldn't stop noticing how inviting his lips looked.

Because Gwaine's fingers would brush against his when he passed the cup over so that Leon could have the rest.

Because Gwaine's long hair tickled him as he bent down to whisper something.

Because Gwaine made him nervous and made everything he said come out stilted and sound overly formal.

Because Gwaine was lovely and could have anyone and would never ever choose Leon.

Because of that, and many other reasons that Leon kept repeating over and over in his head, he couldn't wait to get back, and if anyone asked he could always say that he wanted to get home in time for the Midwinter celebrations. Nobody would question that, and so Leon pressed on, forcing Gwaine to pick up the pace. They didn't stop to eat as it was getting darker and darker and none of them wanted to spend another night out in the cold and that's when it happened.

In the rapidly fading light Leon, cold, tired and hungry, missed the spot of ice in front of him, his foot slipped and he fell. Hard. He didn't have time to try to break his fall and landed heavily on his side and rolled down a small slope before he crashed into a small stream and the world finally stopped spinning.

"Leon?" he heard Gwaine call out anxiously. "You all right there?"

"No" Leon groaned when he felt pain stab like knives through his knee when he tried to move it. "My knee…" he winced and tried to sit up, only to realize that he was soaked to the skin. The ice on the small stream had broken when he landed on it and he hurried to drag himself out of the cold water as Gwaine reached him.

"Can you walk?" Gwaine asked, helping the blonde knight to his feet and Leon took a tentative step before he almost crashed back to the ground, had it not been for Gwaine's support.

"Maybe if we could wrap the knee? Leon suggested. "I think it will work if I don't bend it too much." Gwaine nodded and raffled through his pack until he came up with a spare tunic that he tore into strips and proceeded to bind Leon's knee tightly.

"We have to keep moving" he said, standing up. "You'll freeze to death otherwise." He undid his cloak and placed it around the other man's shoulders. Leon tried to protest but Gwaine would have none of it.

"I'll keep warm hauling your clumsy ass back to Camelot" he said, almost back his usual cheeky self now that Leon wasn't in any immediate danger.

Slowly the couple started walking; Leon's arm slung over Gwaine's shoulder and Gwaine's arm firmly around Leon's waist. The bandages helped some but it still pained him to walk and soon all Leon could do was to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Both of them were now shivering and never had the lights of the castle been a more welcome sight. Leon stumbled for what felt like the millionth time that day and this time he didn't have the strength to right himself. Pain shot through him as he landed on his bad knee and everything went black.

"Leon?" Someone poked his shoulder and Leon wasn't about to answer. "Leon?" Why couldn't they just go away, he was tired and wanted to sleep. "Wake up!" The poking had turned into sharp jabs and he grunted and reluctantly opened his eyes.

"You're awake!" Merlin's voice was filled with relief.

"My knee? the knight asked, realizing that he was shivering.

"It will heal" Merlin assured him. "Gwaine did a really good job of bandaging it and if you just stay off it for a while and let it rest it'll be fine."

"Gwaine all right?" Leon asked, nearly biting his tongue because of the shivering and Merlin nodded.

"A bit cold but he'll be fine soon. Probably having mulled wine and warm cider right now, for medical purposes of course" Merlin smiled and Leon smiled back, despite the pain and the fact that he still felt like his body was made of ice.

"It's a good sign that you're shivering. That means you're warming up." Merlin said, piling an extra blanket on top of the mountain that already covered Leon. "I'll come back later and have a look at you" he said, looking apologetically at the knight, "but I must be off now, Gaius needs help with a woman with a difficult labour."

"Of course" Leon waved him away. "I'm fine."

The fire in his room was roaring and he was all but buried under furs and blankets and still he was shivering like he'd never before. He tried to find a more comfortable position but ended up moving his knee and the pain flared up again, despite whatever foul, pain relieving concoction that Merlin no doubt had given him. When someone knocked on the door he snapped out a none too welcoming "enter!" and the door opened to reveal Gwaine.

"Sounds like someone needs a little cheering up" he said smirking as he went into the room and placed a covered plate on the table and two cups near the fire.

"How are you?" he asked, taking in Leon's shivering form.

"Cold" Leon said curtly before he started coughing violently and before he'd recovered enough to notice what was going on Gwaine had undressed and slipped under the covers to lie beside him.

"What…?" he said confusedly before the other knight all but draped himself over Leon.

"You're cold" Gwaine said, eyes sparkling the way that they did when he flirted with someone. "I'm helping you getting warm again. Easiest way is with body heat."

And Leon was getting very warm, very fast. Gwaine's skin radiated heat and he was everywhere, having somehow wriggled his way into Leon's arms and resting his head on Leon's chest.

"I, uh…" Leon felt the ability to form coherent sentences slip from him as his blood disappeared from his head and made its way down through his body. Fiercely blushing he realized that he was getting hard again and tried to disentangle himself from Gwaine before the other knight noticed it.

"Don't worry" Gwaine murmured. "Nothing I haven't experienced before." He canted his hip slightly forward to press against Leon's groin to indicate just what he meant and Leon moaned softly before he managed to come to his senses. He made a second attempt to move away, cheeks afire by now, but Gwaine only held on tighter.

"No, don't be like that" he scolded playfully. "Not when I finally have you where I want you."

"But I have… I didn't think… What?"

"Why did you think I asked to get paired with you? Gwaine asked, partly exasperated, partly fondly.

"To annoy me?" Leon answered, only to receive a light punch to the shoulder.

"No, you idiot" Gwaine sighed and shifted slightly so that Leon could feel that the other knight was as hard as he was himself.

"Oh." Realization hit him then and there were so many questions that he needed to ask but that could wait because right know Gwaine kissed him and his lips were really as soft as Leon had imagined and his hair tickled the base of Leon's throat.

"Yes, oh indeed" Gwaine said, resting his hand on Leon's hip before slowly sliding downwards towards his erection. "Want me to give you a hand with that?" he asked huskily and Leon thought that maybe slipping wasn't really that bad after all.


	9. Christmas Latte

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Christmas Latte**

Merlin loves Christmas Lattes…

* * *

"You're such a girl, Merlin" Arthur scoffed as his boyfriend happily bounced out of the coffee shop, hands tightly clasped around a steaming take away cup.

"No I'm not" Merlin answered. "I just happen to like this latte very much."

"Going halfway across town for some girly coffee with lots of milk in it is a typical girly thing to do, Merlin."

"Is not" Merlin said petulantly. "You bought coffee too" he pointed out.

"Yes, Merlin, black coffee, with no cream and no sugar. Not some chick drink." Merlin rolled his eyes, Arthur clearly had something against his like for gingerbread flavoured lattes and he wouldn't change his mind no matter what Merlin said. He took a small sip and burnt his tongue.

"Ouch!"

"Such a girl" Arthur concluded and Merlin glared at him.

"I was going to ask you to kiss it better, you prat, but now you're not coming anywhere near me" he threatened and blew gently on the hot beverage to cool it down.

"It has a lid, Merlin, it won't help if you blow at it" Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "And who said I even wanted to? You'd just taste of that disgusting thing, I might get sick."

"Prat!" Merlin stuck his tongue out and then proceeded to ignore Arthur who was busy answering work e-mails on his cell phone.

"Hold this for me, I just need to look at something." Before Arthur knew what had happened Merlin had pressed the cup into his hand and disappeared through the door of a funny little shop selling Christmas decorations and all sorts of knick-knacks. Arthur just prayed that he wouldn't buy anything as he didn't think that his apartment could handle more of the "funny" decorations that Merlin insisted on bringing, claiming that Arthur's taste was boring and that his place needed more personality.

After a couple of minutes Arthur started to get cold and shifted from foot to foot. Merlin was nowhere to be seen and Arthur started to get really annoyed. When the wind picked up and had him shivering he remembered the cup he was still holding. He looked at it briefly. If Merlin was going to keep him waiting out in the cold, holding his drink like some sort of servant, then he better be aware that someone else, like the poor person currently freezing his ass off, might drink it while he was away prancing around in the shops. Arthur lifted the cup, took a small sip, very prepared to spit it out if it tasted as bad as he imagined, and then blinked surprisedly.

It was _delicious_. It was sweet, warm, gingerbread heaven in liquid form with just the right touch of coffee and he could not get enough. All too soon the cup was empty and he looked at is disappointedly. Maybe he could sneak back into the coffee shop while Merlin was away and get a new one. Then he could drink half of the new one as well and Merlin would never know what had happened.

"Ha, I knew it!" Arthur whipped around at the sound of Merlin's voice and his eyes widened when he realized that his boyfriend had seen it all.

"I was cold" he said to his defence. "It's bloody freezing and you made me wait for ages."

"It was ten minutes, you big baby" Merlin answered. "Besides, I saw you licking your lips." Arthur looked down defeated.

"Who's the girl now, Arthur?" Merlin murmured before capturing his boyfriend's lips in a sweet kiss that tasted like gingerbread and Merlin.

"Just shut up, _Merlin_."


	10. Cold night and a curt clotpole

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Cold night and a curt clotpole**

Merlin is cold and Arthur is a clotpole…

* * *

" 'M cold" Merlin said miserably as he, snivelling and shivering, huddled as close as he could to the pathetically small fire. The only wood that they'd managed to gather in the rapidly falling darkness was wet and the fire emitted more smoke than warmth.

"Then maybe you should do something useful instead of sitting on your little bottom complaining then, _Merlin_" Arthur snarled. "If you'd go looking for something to eat then you'd get warm in no time."

"We would already have something to eat if you hadn't taken twice your share of the rations I packed, you clotpole" Merlin murmured but nonetheless he pushed himself to his feet and headed off. Maybe, if he was lucky, there were still some berries to find, or some of the edible leaves that Gaius had taught him to recognize.

Luck was not on his side and when Merlin returned to the camp, without any food, Arthur had already put their bed rolls out in the tent and removed his chain mail.

"I can't say I'm surprised to see you come back empty-handed" Arthur said upon seeing his manservant and Merlin, too cold and too tired to retaliate, only ducked into the tent and got to bed. Arthur soon followed him and they both laid in silence for a while. Then Merlin shifted restlessly, and then again and again.

"Be still, will you?" Arthur asked him, miffed and cranky because of the cold and the miserable situation they were in. "I can't sleep for the rattling of your bones."

"Sh-shut up, sire" Merlin answered, teeth clattering.

"Don't be such a girl, Merlin, it's not that cold" Arthur scoffed, not willing to admit that it _was,_ in fact, rather cold. If it hadn't been for his thick winter cloak that he'd placed on top of his bedroll his teeth would probably have clattered as well. Merlin snorted and rolled over, turning his back at Arthur.

The more he thought about it, the more Arthur realized that if he, dressed in the warmest clothes that Camelot's tailors could provide, was cold then his manservant most certainly was suffering in the chilly tent. He'd just been too annoyed with their situation to really consider how it affected Merlin. Merlin, his annoyingly stubborn manservant that couldn't follow a simple order to save his life but was probably more loyal than any of Camelot's knights. Merlin who always talked back like the cheeky country boy he was but still always was there for Arthur. Merlin, who would fall over his own feet and dropped plates of food by the dozen, but somehow undressed Arthur with swift and sure fingers. Merlin, with his blue eyes and lovely smile and that appallingly ugly neckerchief. Merlin, _his_ Merlin.

Arthur groaned when he suddenly felt like the jerkiest of jerks. Or the clotpoliest of clotpoles, as Merlin no doubt would say, the endearing idiot.

"Merlin?" he asked tentatively. He got no answer and he thought that maybe the manservant had fallen asleep but it wasn't likely and, in any case, Merlin was a light sleeper and would have heard him anyway.

"Merlin?" he tried again and got a quiet whimper in return. Arthur shuffled over and put a hand to Merlin's shoulder, feeling alarmed when he felt how cold he was.

"Are you all right?" he asked and was even more worried when Merlin didn't answer him. "Right then" he muttered to himself and put an arm around Merlin's waist, pulled the manservant flush against his chest and tucked all blankets and cloaks available as close around them both as possible. At first Merlin was stiff and shivered wildly but Arthur put his arms around him to keep him in place and slowly Merlin's muscles relaxed from the warmth and he sank into a peaceful sleep. Arthur soon followed him.

The next morning Arthur felt as if sharing a bed with a very squirmy and uncooperative polecat and he tightened his hold as he sluggishly tried to wake up.

"Merlin" he growled. "Would it kill you to be still?"

"Arthur?" Merlin asked confusedly, but thankfully he stopped moving around. "What am I doing in your bed?"

"Getting rescued from freezing to death, you idiot" Arthur huffed in response, partly miffed, partly fondly. "You should have told me that you were cold."

"I did, you prat" Merlin murmured sleepily, too warm and too content in Arthur's arms to bother to put some real emotion behind the words.

"Well then, next time you'll just have to be clearer, _Merlin_."

"Oh, I'll be clear about it, don't you worry you clotpole."


	11. Ginger bread house and golden haired man

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Ginger bread house and golden haired man**

Gwaine wants to make a gingerbread house and convinces a reluctant Leon that it's a brilliant idea…

* * *

It had been Gwaine's idea. Like all the other things that currently went wrong in Leon's life, it had something to do with Gwaine. This time it was a gingerbread house that was the culprit. Or maybe it was Gwaine, who had insisted on making one.

"It'll be fun" he said, trying to convince Leon. "It'll give this place some holiday spirit." It was true that their apartment really could need some. They'd only moved in a couple of weeks ago and, since both of them were busy at work, the living room was still littered with boxes in various stages of unpacking.

"I don't think that a single gingerbread house would be much compared to all the junk in here" Leon had answered but still picked up the ingredients to the dough on the way home from work. Gwaine had a knack for always getting what he wanted, one way or another.

So together they prepared the dough and cut out all the pieces needed to make the house, as well as a couple of gingerbread men and women to live in it, and put everything in the oven and even got everything out on time, before it burned even the slightest. Leon should have known that it was too good to be true. And it was.

As soon as the cookies had cooled of it was time for the tricky part, putting all the pieces together into a house. Gwaine raised his eyebrows when Leon held up a bottle of glue.

"Oh no, that stuff isn't coming near this delicious building" he said, standing protectively in front of the cooling rack, and Leon looked at him confusedly.

"How do you put it together then?"

"With melted sugar" Gwaine answered as if this was the most common knowledge in the world, already pulling out a frying pan and pouring sugar into it. "How else would you be able to eat it?"

"Eat it?" Leon echoed. He'd thought this to be only a decoration and nothing more.

"Of course!" Gwaine exclaimed. "On Christmas morning you're allowed to break pieces from it and eat for breakfast." He grinned widely at the thought.

"After it has been sitting on a shelf for two weeks getting dustier and dustier?" Leon asked, scrunching his nose. "And everyone's been poking at it?" Gwaine only shook his head and continued stirring the sugar in the pan, murmuring something about Leon not appreciating the finer things in life.

When all the sugar had gone from pearly white to a light caramel brown Gwaine pulled the pan off the heat and looked at Leon expectantly.

"Well, come on then." Leon approached cautiously.

"Isn't it very hot?"

"We'll just have to be careful." Gwaine waved casually. "Nothing to worry about." They started out carefully and slowly and soon they had put all the walls together. Feeling a bit more confident they moved on to the roof, only to find that the sugar had cooled off somewhat and needed to be reheated. And that's when disaster struck.

"I'll just take this…" Gwaine started to say as he lifted the pan but it slipped in his hold and the contents tipped out of it. Right onto Leon's bare foot.

"Owfuck!" he yelled, trying to wipe the sugary mass of his foot, only succeeding in burning his hands as well. Gwaine, for once managing to do something useful, upended the fruit bowl, filled it with water and put it on the floor.

"Thank god" Leon groaned as the cold water soothed his burnt skin. He didn't even care that he probably looked ridiculous, having crammed both of his hands and one of his feet into the bowl.

"Leon, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry." Gwaine skittered around the kitchen, nervously wringing his hands. "Really, I didn't mean to… I'm so sorry."

"So you've said" Leon spat out through gritted teeth. "Multiple times. Maybe you could get me a bigger bowl of water instead?" Gwaine disappeared in a flash and came back with a large bucket.

When Leon felt like he had lost all feeling in both his hands and his foot he tentatively pulled them out of the water and was relieved to see that the burns seemed to be rather shallow and would probably heal quite quickly. He padded across the apartment to seek out his flatmate and was surprised to see that Gwaine's door was closed. He raised his hand to knock but froze as he caught the mention of his own name.

"… and now Leon hates me. I know, I know, but…" There was a moments silence and Leon waited impatiently for Gwaine to speak again.

"Yes, I know, but you know how he never really celebrates Christmas and I just wanted to do something nice together, and get him to feel some Christmas feeling, like we do at home. With all the candles and presents and sweets and… but I guess I really ruined this time." Leon frowned where he stood. Gwaine almost sounded sad and it wasn't like him.

"Yeah, whatever, it's not like the other things I've been trying worked out either. I don't know, maybe, he's been talking about this guy called Arthur so maybe he fancies that bloke instead of me. Nah, I'm good, you go back to movie night. Yes, honestly, Merlin, I'm fine. Yeah, see you next week. Bye."

On the other side of the door Leon processed this. So maybe his friend, which he happened to have a crush on since forever and ever, didn't have his mind set on making his life miserable. Maybe he was just trying to hit on Leon. He didn't mix up Leon's laundry on purpose, he was probably trying to help out since Leon was busy at work. And he wasn't trying to mess up Leon's duvet, he'd just wanted to bring him coffee in bed. Leon grinned and opened the door. He needed to have a word with his maybe-boyfriend flatmate.

Maybe building gingerbread houses wasn't so bad after all…


	12. Cold outside, hot in here

Author's note

Dizi Lyali, I haven't forgotten about you... Here's some Merwaine cuteness that I hope you'll like :-)

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Cold outside, hot in here**

An innocent study session turns into something else when suddenly a snow storm appears and changes all plans…

* * *

"Well, I probably should get going." Merlin stood up end stretched and Gwaine took the opportunity to catch a glimpse of pale skin as the shirt rode up over Merlin's hips. "You staying here?" he asked and Gwaine forced himself to stop thinking about pale skin and what he'd like to do to it.

"I better go as well" he answered, looking out of the window. "It's snowing pretty heavy out there, and it looks like it's getting worse." Merlin nodded and the two of them got all their books and pulled on their coats. After a friendly wave to Gwen, and Merlin finally having finished wrapping his favourite, one kilometre long, blue knitted scarf around his neck, the two of them stepped out from the café and started to walk home.

Gwaine had not made an understatement. It was snowing heavily and the wind had started to pick up as well. It was difficult to see anything and the cold pierced through every layer of clothing that they'd put on. They were not even halfway to Gwaine's place before Merlin was shivering badly, and by the time they actually got there Gwaine took one look at his friend's blue lips and ushered him inside the building.

"Gwaine, I ne-need to get ho-home" Merlin tried to protest but since he couldn't speak properly for shivering so badly it only strengthened Gwaine's resolve to get him to stay.

"You're going to freeze to death before you even get halfway there" he said, unlocking the door. "And don't worry about Gaius" he added, knowing that Merlin would want to get home to make sure that his uncle was alright. "Just call him and tell him that you're going to stay here until the snowing lets up a bit, ok? He'll be fine."

"Okay." Merlin nodded and slowly started to take of his coat, fingers numb and clumsy from the cold. After the third attempt to open the zipper he huffed annoyedly and Gwaine chuckled.

"Need a hand with that?" he asked and Merlin rolled his eyes and gestured to the front of his coat.

"Yes, please" he muttered, and was glad that he could blame his red face on the cold, and not on Gwaine's close proximity.

"Here" Gwaine said, pushing a large, steaming cup into Merlin's hand and the dark-haired man immediately perked up.

"You even got me whipped cream and marshmallows" he beamed as Gwaine plopped down on the couch next to him.

"Can't have hot chocolate without it, can you?"

"Absolutely not" Merlin said firmly and took a small sip before he burrowed down deeper under the blanket and let out a content sigh. Gwaine realized that it was a lucky thing that his hands were occupied holding his own cup, otherwise he might have done something stupid like stroking Merlin's hair or cuddling down beside him. Not that he wouldn't want to, but he didn't want to ruin their friendship, or scare Merlin away. Too many people already thought that he was nothing more than a player, and Gwaine didn't want his best friend to think that he was just after a casual fuck.

"Um, Gwaine?"

"Yeah?"

"You've got something on your cheek, there, no, more to the right, wait, let me." Merlin leaned in to wipe the cream away from Gwaine's bearded cheek and at the same time Gwaine turned towards his friend to properly see where Merlin pointed. They both froze, almost nose to nose and with Merlin cupping Gwaine's cheek.

"Um, I was just going to…" Merlin gestured towards Gwaine's face. "I mean, you had some cream there and I…" When he realized that he was still touching Gwaine's face, almost caressing it, he snatched his hand back and blushed crimson red. "I'm sorry" he muttered mortified, looking anywhere but at his friend.

"It's ok" Gwaine assured him gruffly. "I know that you don't want to… you know…" Merlin slowly lifted his head.

"Don't want what?" he asked, his heart thrumming with the hope that maybe, please please please let it be so, Gwaine meant exactly what he thought that he meant.

"You know" Gwaine made a sweeping gesture that could mean anything. "Like, us."

"Oh." Merlin blushed again but this time it was a different kind of blush. "Don't be so sure about that" he continued and smiled, tentatively at first but then radiantly when Gwaine understood what he meant and grinned back. Merlin cleared his throat.

"So, uh, there is something on your lips as well. Maybe I should help you with that as well?" he offered and Gwaine leaned in closer.

"Yes, please."


	13. Grumpy Grinch, Christmas-loving cretin

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**The grumpy Grinch and his Christmas-loving cretin**

Merlin is feeling the Christmas spirit and Arthur, well, not so much…

* * *

Arthur groaned and pulled the duvet up over his head. No, this was not happening. This was _so_ not happening. He was _not_ woken up on his first day off in months by his boyfriend clanking around in the kitchen, while also singing bloody _Christmas_ _songs_ at the top of his voice. This was not real, this was just some sort of weird nightmare. Yep, that was it, he would just continue to sleep and dream about something nice instead…

"… All I want for Christmas is yooooouuuu…"

"_Merlin_!" It felt to Arthur as if the false notes pierced his skull and they effectively chased away all of what little hope for more sleep that he still harboured. "Would it bloody kill you to keep it down?" Merlin appeared in the door, looking contrite.

"I'm sorry, Arthur" he said, shuffling his feet. "I didn't want to wake you up, I just got a little carried away."

"I didn't come from work until the middle of the bloody night, is it too much to ask for you to be quiet in the morning?" Arthur snapped.

"I'm so sor…" Merlin started to say but was interrupted.

"At least close the damn door, will you!" Arthur was fuming at this point and he was mad enough about his lost sleep to ignore the hurt look that appeared on Merlin's face.

"For your information, you stumbled and woke me up last night" Merlin retorted coldly when Arthur had stopped shouting. "Over your own dirty laundry that you left on the floor I might add. I made French toast with cinnamon for breakfast but I guess you rather stay in here and sleep." And with that Merlin turned on his heel, stomped out of the bedroom and slammed the door behind him. Arthur glared angrily at the now closed door and then yanked the duvet back over his head. He'd better take advantage of the peace and quiet while it lasted.

Arthur tossed and turned but couldn't get comfortable enough to get back to sleep. The duvet was to warm all of a sudden and his pillow had lumps in it that seemingly had appeared out of nowhere. The ticking from the alarm clock boomed like thunder in his ears and every time a car passed outside he jumped. After an hour he gave up altogether and decided that he might as well get up and see if there was still some of that French toast left. It would be a shame to let any of it go to waste and it _was_ Arthur's favourite breakfast after all. Which was probably why Merlin had made it today, Arthur realized. He'd done it for him. Because he'd been working too much lately and been relay tired and Merlin wanted to do something nice for him now that his holidays began. Arthur felt a twinge of guilt but then he remembered that he was still angry with Merlin for dropping pans and knocking over glasses and being so bloody Christmas cheery that he'd wake Arthur up singing these god-awful Christmas songs. Any feeling of guilt had now been firmly and thoroughly squished and Arthur continued to the kitchen.

"Merlin?" Arthur got no answer and a quick look around the flat confirmed that Merlin wasn't there. Well, if Merlin wanted to go over to Gwen's and sulk about Arthur being mean because he got angry when woken up in the crack of dawn he was very welcome to do so, Arthur thought. Hell, he and Gwen could sit all day and berate him for not being a morning person, as well as a grumpy, Christmas hating, Grinch if that's what they wanted to do, Arthur couldn't care less. As long as not a single reindeer statue or holly leaf entered the flat, they could call him whatever they wanted. But he was a bit miffed that Merlin apparently had taken all of the French toast with him and grumpily had to settle for cereal instead.

As the hours wore on and Merlin didn't come back Arthur started to get slightly worried. It wasn't like his boyfriend to just disappear for hours on end and they'd had worse rows than this before. He paced around the apartment for a while, thoughts spinning, before he did the only thing a man could do in an emergency like this. He called his mother-in-law.

As soon as he got off the phone with Hunith he threw himself face down on the bed. He'd really messed up this time. Not only had he been a terrible boyfriend when Merlin tried to be kind, but he'd also forced him, the Christmas fan number one, to go through the better half of December without as much a sniff of a Christmas tree. Arthur groaned and put his head in his hands. He'd have to find a way to make this up to Merlin somehow.

When Merlin tiredly trudged through the door another couple of hours later he was greeted by an unfamiliar sight. On top the bureau sat a polar bear plushie, sporting a bright red Santa's hat and holding a small gift box with his name on it.

"Arthur?" he called out as he unwrapped his scarf and shrugged out of his coat, all while eyeing the gift. No answer and Merlin's curiosity got the better of him. He quickly undid the bow and took the lid off. Inside was a single, deliciously smelling ginger toffee and a small note that read: "_Eat me and go to the kitchen"._ Merlin smiled, popped the candy into his mouth and walked into the kitchen. On the table was a large bowl of oranges, a plate of heart shaped ginger bread cookies and another small present. This one contained some candied popcorn and another note: "_Eat me and go to the living room"._

The living room took Merlin' breath away. The white sofa had been upgraded with some soft looking blankets and plush, comfy pillows, all in crimson red. A fire sparkled and there were candles on the table. In the corner was a huge Christmas tree. It was magnificent but completely without any ornaments, save a small candy cane that hung from a branch and was a big box wrapped in red and gold that stood on the floor underneath it.

The small note accompanying the candy cane read: "_Eat me and unwrap the gift_." Merlin, now grinning widely, put the candy cane in his mouth and opened the large box to find all sorts of baubles, garlands and tinsels and a note that read: _"I thought perhaps we could decorate the tree together? Go to the bedroom." _Merlin hastened towards the bedroom, eager to see what Arthur had done in there but when he reached the threshold he froze in surprise.

Arthur was laying on the bed, wearing tight red boxers that left nothing to the imagination and little else. In fact, the only other piece of clothing that he had on was a Santa's hat. Merlin swallowed as he walked forward to take the note that Arthur held out. It read: "_I'm really sorry for this morning. Unwrap my package and eat me out?"_ Merlin blinked when he realized the magnitude of it all. Not only had Arthur, the grumpiest Grinch of them all, decorated their flat for Christmas, he also offered himself completely to Merlin. Arthur never bottomed. Never ever. Merlin looked up and saw his boyfriend looking back at him, trying to appear confident but his nervousness shone through. Merlin smiled and let his hand slide slowly from Arthur's calf all the way up to rest on his thigh, teasingly close to his crotch.

"Oh, I'm going to take so good care of you, darling" he promised, all but purring, and Arthur shivered in anticipation.


	14. Kiss it better

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Kiss it better **

Merlin gets hurt on his way home from work and Arthur takes care of him…

* * *

Arthur rushed through the hospital doors and all but ran up to the counter.

"I'm here to see Merlin Emrys, where is he?" he asked frantically and the receptionist looked at him compassionately before turning to her computer monitor. A few moments later he had the information that he needed and he set off running again.

"Promise you'll never do that again" Arthur said shakily while hugging the younger man as tight as he could without hurting him. Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Promise never to leave work late in the evening again? Sounds good to me" he answered cheekily and Arthur would have punched his shoulder if someone else hadn't already done that and he had to settle for a displeased groaning instead.

"You know what I mean" he said and looked straight into Merlin's blue eyes. "It's not safe carrying around that much money late at night, especially during the Christmas rush. Everyone knows that the tills are bursting in the stores at this time of the year." Merlin nodded and winced when he jostled his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know. But Cenred's made it pretty clear that I'll be fired if I complain about it."

"Fuck Cenred!" Arthur spat out vehemently. He hated Merlin's creep of a boss.

"No, I rather not, thank you" Merlin quipped and before Arthur could start yelling at him for not taking it seriously they were interrupted by a doctor entering.

"Too bad it's not Halloween" Merlin said, looking at his bruised self in the mirror in the hall when they got home. "I wouldn't even have to use any makeup; I could go trick-or-treating like this."

"This is not a bloody joke!" Arthur exploded. He couldn't understand how Merlin could even think of joking about being assaulted and robbed on his way home from work. "How can you not take this seriously?" You could have died!" Arthur trembled as he uttered those last words and noticed that Merlin had frozen the spot.

"That's why I joke, Arthur" he said quietly. "Because if I don't, all I can think of is the fact that I could have died and not come home to you. And it scares me so much that I can't even bear thinking about it." Tears had formed in Merlin's eyes and Arthur took a quick step forward and wrapped his arms around him. Merlin started shaking and all Arthur could do while his boyfriend cried was to hold him, murmuring sweet nonsense as comfort. He also, truth to be told, murmured about what he'd do to the sorry excuse for a human being if the police ever found the robber who'd attacked Merlin. Maybe it wasn't the most comforting thing to talk about but when Arthur mentioned disembowelment he thought he heard Merlin chuckle quietly.

At last Merlin pulled back, softly snivelling, and looked into Arthur's eyes.

"Arthur, I'm tired. Could we lay down for a bit?" Immediately Arthur sprinted off towards the bedroom, turned the bed down, brought an extra blanket for his perpetually cold boyfriend, put a glass of water on the nightstand and dug out a couple of pain pills if Merlin would need them. Then he fretted over Merlin being uncomfortable in the bed, perhaps he wanted a softer shirt to sleep in or a plusher pillow so that his bruises didn't hurt or maybe…?

"Arthur" Merlin interrupted. "I'm fine and…" As he caught Arthur's incredulous look he quickly amended: "All right, I'm not fine but I'm comfortable now. Please join me?" Arthur quickly shed his clothes and joined Merlin on the bed, pulling the duvet up over them both.

They were both content just to rest in each other's arms, feeling warm and secure but after a while Merlin spoke.

"Arthur?"

"Mmmm?" Arthur shifted slightly so that he could rest his nose against the nape of Merlin's neck and Merlin shivered when he felt Arthur's exhalations like puffs of warm air, ghosting against his skin.

"I'm afraid I lied a little before" Merlin said, hurrying to continue before his boyfriend would explode again. "I said I was fine but really, my lips hurt a little." Merlin turned around to face his boyfriend. "Would you kiss them better for me?" Arthur smiled.

"Absolutely" he said, before placing a feather light kiss in his boyfriend's soft lips, carefully avoiding the sore area. "Always."


	15. Fudge failure

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Fudge failure**

Gwaine attempts to do something nice for his boyfriend…

* * *

"Fuck!" Gwaine exclaimed. This was not good. He had never made fudge before but he was fairly certain that it wasn't supposed to taste like burned sugar. Sighing he dumped the contents of the saucepan into the bin and started a fresh batch. This time he wouldn't leave the stove for anything, he wouldn't even blink, and the fudge would have his complete attention from the time when the first bubble surfaced to when the mixture was safely poured into the greased tin.

This time he actually managed to properly cook the mixture and pull it off the heat in time, only to realize that he'd used all the chocolate to flavour the last batch (well, most of it had gone into the fudge anyway, and the rest he'd eaten himself as a consolation for the failure) and that he didn't have any more. Quickly he searched the internet to come up with an alternate flavouring and settled for sea salt, as it was apparently in fashion to highlight the sweetness of the fudge by adding something salty. He poured the mixture out into the tin and generously sprinkled flakes of sea salt on top of it. Smiling he sat back, feeling contented with the outcome and that feeling lasted for the whole hour that it took for the candy to cool.

Carefully Gwaine bit into the piece of fudge, only to spit it put immediately.

"Yuck!" He'd put on so much salt that the whole thing was inedible. He glared at the rest of the fudge for a split-second before unceremoniously chucking it into the bin to join the burnt mixture.

"Third time lucky" he mumbled, trying to cheer himself up as he started measuring out the ingredients once more. This time he remembered that he was out of flavouring and pulled the saucepan off the heat before dashing off to the store to buy some more chocolate, both for the fudge and for himself.

Luck was not on his side. First he'd forgotten his wallet and had to run back home and get it. Then he slipped on a patch of ice outside the store and hurt his hip when he fell. Then a lady snatched the last bar of white chocolate and he had to settle for plain old boring baking chocolate. And to finish off the disastrous day in style he returned home to find that the mixture had split while he was away and, no matter how he tried to reheat it, it wouldn't come back together again. Cursing loudly Gwaine threw the saucepan and its contents down in the sink and went to throw himself on the bed. His hip really hurt and he was fed up with the whole fucking fudge fiasco that the day had become.

"Gwaine?" A hand on his shoulder shook him slightly. "You ok?"

"Mmm, yeah" Gwaine mumbled, still partly in the land of sleep. "You home early, Perce?"

"Not that early" Percival said, indicating the clock on the bedside table.

"Fuck!" Gwaine sat up in alarm. He'd slept for three hours and he hadn't even begun clearing away the mess that he'd made in the kitchen. He tried to jump off the bed but winced and sat back down when pain shot through his hip.

"Bloody hell" he snapped angrily and his boyfriend sat down beside him.

"How did it happen?" Percival asked nodding towards Gwaine's hip.

"Long story."

"Hm. Does that story explain the fact that the kitchen looks like it's been hit by a tornado?"

"Kind of" Gwaine had to admit sheepishly and then told his boyfriend the whole, embarrassing, frustrating story of how he'd spent his afternoon.

By the time that he'd finished, and Percival had stopped laughing at him, he found himself enveloped in a big hug.

"I love you" Percival mumbled, nuzzling his hair. "I love the fact that you thought it was a good idea for you, who normally set the kitchen on fire when attempting to make tea…"

"Hey, that was one time!" Gwaine interrupted.

"... to try and make some candy for your boyfriend, the pastry chef" Percival continued and Gwaine could feel that he was laughing again by the way that his shoulders shook.

"I just wanted to do something nice for you" Gwaine said, feeling hurt, and tried to wriggle his way out of his boyfriend's arms but Percival held him firmly.

"Thank you, love" he said more seriously and placed a kiss on the top of Gwaine's head. "I really appreciate the thought. Now let me do something nice for you. You've had such a rough day. How about a nice, long bath?"

"That'd be nice" Gwaine said smiling. "If you join me of course."

"You bet I will" Percival answered and before Gwaine knew what was happening he was being carried bridal style into the bathroom.


	16. Hot for teacher

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Hot for teacher  
**

Not that Gwaine ever cared about being a straight A student but he certainly would miss Uni during the Christmas break…

* * *

"Really?" Merlin sounded as if he couldn't believe what he heard. "_Gwaine_ is complaining about having Christmas holidays?"

"Looks like it" Arthur shrugged and shovelled some more food into his mouth. Merlin wrinkled his nose in distaste but Arthur only smirked when he saw that. Feeling fed up with his boyfriend's poor table manners and non-existent PDA's Merlin snatched the apple from Arthur's tray and slid out of the booth.

"I'm going to talk to Gwaine" he announced and Arthur looked up.

"Hey! What about me?" he mock-whined and Merlin sighed.

"You'll be fine, you big baby." He placed a light kiss on Arthur's cheek. "See you at home."

"Bye."

"Gwaine? You ok?" Merlin sank down to sit beside his friend on the top of the stairs and noted that Gwaine's lunch still sat uneaten in his bag. That was not a good sign.

"Yeah, fine" Gwaine muttered and continued to stare into space without acknowledging Merlin further.

"You sure about that?" Merlin tried again after long moments of silence and Gwaine's jaw clenched.

"Yes" he snapped. "Why can't you all just leave me alone?" Merlin silently passed him the apple and left, promising himself to figure out exactly what it was that bothered Gwaine so much.

It took Merlin little over a week to figure out what was going on. Gwaine had been unnaturally subdued for a couple of days and then suddenly he became his old self again, only to go back to sulking and moping and then walking around like the cat that got the canary. It was only after Merlin had compared Gwaine's class schedule with his mood swings that he realized what was bothering his friend.

"It's that teacher, isn't it?" Merlin asked.

"No" Gwaine answered, too quickly for it to sound causal and Merlin wasn't fooled. He continued to look Gwaine in the eyes while raising an eyebrow to express his disbelief and to his astonishment Gwaine actually blushed.

"Not here" he said, quickly looking around the classroom to see if someone was listening. He grabbed Merlin's elbow and dragged him all the way into a corner booth at their favourite coffee place before speaking again.

"Yeah, all right, you're right. It's that teacher, I fancy him, all right?" he admitted and Merlin's eyes lit up with interest. Gwaine wasn't usually the type to pine for someone and he was curious to hear more about the object of his friend's crush. But Gwaine remained silent and Merlin realized that he'd have to do some poking and prodding to get to the bottom of this.

"So, you fancy him, do you?" he started out.

"Yeah."

"I can see why" Merlin mused. "He's definitely hot. Young."

"And really smart" Gwaine added to Merlin's surprise. Normally his friend would spend more time engaging in physical activities when he fancied someone, Gwaine didn't really do talking, feelings or getting to know people. He was more for keeping it causal.

"You've really fallen for him, haven't you?" Merlin asked and Gwaine glared at him.

"Does it matter? It's not like anything's going to happen anyway" he said unhappily and Merlin's heart ached for his friend. He had ever seen Gwaine so smitten with someone and he was going to do everything that he could to help him.

"Why not?"

"Because he's my teacher, that's why!"

"We're not in high school anymore" Merlin reminded Gwaine. "You're both adults and there's nothing wrong with it as long as you're both consenting. And as for grades, he's only a substitute teacher and he won't have the final say on your grades, so what is it that's really stopping you?" Gwaine chewed on his answer for a while.

"He doesn't like me back" he said at last, his voice barely audible above the noise in the coffee shop.

"You think that or you know that?" Gwaine only shrugged and Merlin resolutely got up. "Right then, I'm coming to class with you."

"Wait, what ?" Gwaine protested. "Why?"

"To see if he's into you or not."

"But you can't just…"

"I can and I will. Now move it, soldier, we've got a teacher to check out." Merlin was already halfway out the door and Gwaine had to run to catch up with him.

Two days later Gwaine stood outside his classroom and shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"No, I can't." He turned to leave but Merlin would have none of it and stepped in to block his way.

"Just go ahead and ask him."

"What if he turns me down?"

"We've been over this, Gwaine" Merlin said patiently. "He's definitely interested but he seems to think that it wouldn't be proper to ask a student out, especially not in class. But if you're the one asking, and since the course is finished and he's technically not your teacher anymore, I think he's going to say yes.

"You think? What if…"

"Just go!" Merlin opened the door, pushed Gwaine inside and closed it behind him. The rest was up to Gwaine.

"I can't even look at it" Arthur said, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

"Hey!" Percival cut in. "You and Merlin were as bad when you first started dating." Arthur huffed and looked away pointedly. He was happy for his friend, he really was, but did he have to make out with his new boyfriend _everywhere_? There were people trying to eat for goodness' sake. Merlin slipped his hand down under the table and squeezed Arthur's hand.

"You don't know how nervous Gwaine was about asking him out" he said silently. "Be happy for them, you clotpole."

"That's not a word, _Merlin_" Arthur retorted but he said it fondly and gave Merlin's hand a squeeze in return before continuing his competition with Percival on who could eat the most turkey.

Over by the fireplace Gwaine snuggled even further into Leon's arms.

"Best Christmas ever" he murmured against his boyfriend's neck and got a puff of laughter as answer.

"Oh really?" Leon asked, slowly rubbing his beard against Gwaine's cheek. "How about we go upstairs and unwrap some presents then?" he suggested, lightly tugging at the hem of Gwaine's t-shirt.

"Oh yes, please" Gwaine said eagerly, while scrambling to his feet."I've been really good this year."


	17. Punishing the cookie thief

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Punishing the cookie thief**

Mordred finds out that someone is stealing Santa's cookies and he's not about to let the deed go unpunished. Leon's only too happy to assist him…

* * *

Just as Arthur stuffed the last bit of cookie into his mouth he heard one of the floorboards creak, and a split-second later an ear-piercing scream.

"Noooo! Mum! Mum! Uncle Arthur is stealing Santa's cookies!" Mordred sobbed uncontrollably as he ran towards Morgana's bedroom and Arthur cursed loudly. Shouldn't the kid be asleep at this hour?

Soon Mordred was back, dragging along a less than pleased looking Morgana and Leon who'd apparently woken up by the commotion and decided to see what was going on.

"… and now Santa won't come here because we have no cookies for him" Mordred cried and he pointed towards the empty plate and the culprit standing beside it. Arthur felt his cheeks heating up as Morgana glared coolly at him.

"Really, Arthur, what were you thinking?" she snapped before enveloping Mordred in a big hug. "Don't you worry, little man, it's going to be fine. We are going to fix this, ok?"

"Really?" Mordred asked hopefully, snivelling.

"Really" Morgana confidently assured him and helped him blow his nose. "You see, Uncle Arthur here is going to make a new batch of cookies that we'll give Santa."

"I am?" Arthur murmured quietly so that Mordred wouldn't hear and the frosty stare that he received from his sister was answer enough. "Right then."

He opened the doors to the pantry and began to line up flour, sugar and the other ingredients on the counter top.

"Santa won't know that we did that?" Mordred asked as Arthur started to mix the dough together.

"I don't think so, sweetie" Morgana answered. "And if he does, he'll know that it wasn't your fault." She placed a kiss on his dark curls and pulled her bathrobe around them both so that the child wouldn't get cold.

"Tell me again why I'm making chocolate chip cookies in the middle of the bloody night" Arthur whispered to Leon. His boyfriend rolled his eyes.

"It's because you couldn't wait until the kid was asleep before stuffing your face" Leon answered quietly, keeping a watchful eye on Mordred that sat on Morgana's lap and supervised the baking with a stern gaze. "The rest of us wait until the coast is clear before going for it."

"How was I supposed to… ouch!" A sharp elbow from Leon silenced him and he focused on finishing the damn cookies so that he could get some sleep.

When, at last, all the cookies were baked, cooled off, glazed, decorated and nicely plated with a glass of fresh milk on the side, (and accompanied by a note saying _To Santa_ that Mordred had insisted on) the small boy yawned loudly and Morgana started to herd him off to bed.

"No, wait!" Mordred dug his heels in and stubbornly looked at his mother. "What if Uncle Arthur eats those too?" Arthur felt a little hurt, both because of the accusation and because Leon couldn't stop laughing at him, but he decided to be the bigger man.

"I promise that I won't eat those cookies" he solemnly swore but Mordred didn't seem entirely convinced.

"You said that about the other cookies too" the child pointed out and Arthur groaned when Morgana smirked.

"You actually did, Arthur" she reminded him and Mordred nodded.

"Not helping, Morgana" Arthur shot back at the same time as Mordred announced that he would be guarding the cookies until Santa came.

"No need, little man" Leon said as he entered the kitchen again, holding his jacket. "I'll make sure that Uncle Arthur doesn't get anywhere near those cookies." He fished out a pair of hand cuffs from his pocket and held them up. "Can you sleep if I put these on your uncle and make sure those cookies are safe?" Mordred considered it briefly before he nodded.

"Excellent" Leon said before making a show of taking Arthur's arm and guiding him to their bedroom where he slipped one of the cuffs around Arthur's wrist and the other one around the bars of the head board.

"Come on, darling, it's time for you to sleep now that the cookies are safe" Morgana said and Mordred waved a sleepy goodbye to the two men as he was carried to bed.

"All right, you can take these off now" Arthur said as soon as the door had closed behind Morgana, lightly tugging at the hand cuffs. "Show's over."

"You sure about that?" Leon asked as he prowled closer and closer to the bed after having discarded his t-shirt. "I'd say it's just getting started." Before Arthur knew what was happening his boyfriend had him pinned down on the bed, his other hand was also cuffed to the headboard and the t-shirt that he'd worn to bed was now in tatters on the floor, leaving him in his boxers and nothing else. Leon let his eyes roam up and down his body and Arthur shivered at the hungry look in his boyfriend's eyes.

"After all, you did steal those cookies" Leon growled. "And as a police officer, I can't let a crime like that slip. What would that make me?"

"A… a bad one?" Arthur asked, his breath hitching as Leon slowly grinded his hips against Arthur's so that their clothed erections brushed against each other.

"Yes. But I think that instead of reporting you, I'll just punish you myself instead." Leon bowed his head down and caught one of Arthur's nipples between his teeth. He licked and teased for a bit before he bit down. Hard.

"Fuck, yes!" Arthur moaned loudly and Leon smiled wickedly.

"Oh, we'll definitely get to that" he promised.


	18. Be(a)st Christmas ever

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Be(a)st Christmas ever**

Merlin's such a soft-hearted idiot… and Arthur can't help but loving him for it…

* * *

"But Arthur" Merlin pleaded. "We can't just leave him out here in the cold."

"It's a wolf, _Merlin_, it's supposed to be out here" Arthur answered, fed up with the discussion. If it wasn't for his stubborn manservant they'd all be well on their way back to the castle and the festive dinner by now.

"He's just a small cub, Arthur, and he's freezing." Merlin indicated the small shivering form in his arms. "We've looked everywhere for his parents, if we don't take him in he'll die out here, all alone." Realizing that Merlin wasn't going to give up any time soon Arthur did the only rational thing and admitted defeat before they all died from cold.

"Very well, but I'll throw you in the dungeons the very second that he eats one of my hunting dogs" he growled and Merlin beamed at him.

"Thank you" he chirped happily before pulling the wolf tighter to his chest and wrapping his cloak around them both. "Did you hear that?" he asked the cub, nuzzling the soft fur on its head. "You're coming with us."

"Let's get going then" Arthur said, turning on his heel and setting off at a brisk pace, leaving the others scrambling to keep up with him

They were only half-way home and Arthur sighed impatiently as Merlin was already far behind the rest of them. Seeing the manservant stubbornly tagging along, struggling to carry both his own pack, all the cooking equipment and the small wolf was what made Arthur finally give in.

"Fine!" he snapped. "Percival, help him with the pack and Leon, carry the wretched animal for a while. If not, Merlin will be dragging his feet all the way and we'll all end up waiting for him anyway." He sharply turned his back and continued walking home but that didn't keep him from catching Leon's all too knowing smile.

"Not a word" he murmured as he passed his second-in-command.

Later that evening they all sat around the fire in Arthur's chambers, feeling content after having enjoyed the comfort of a hot bath, a fine meal and a nice gift exchange. Merlin had managed to snatch some of Cook's finest spices and the mulled wine they now drank was delicious. The small cub, that Merlin had suggested they call Gaeaf, had fallen asleep on the soft rug in front of the hearth with a belly full of milk and chicken and Merlin softly petted his back while gazing into the fire. Arthur hadn't realized that he was looking at the manservant with a fond smile on his lips before Leon cleared his throat and suggested that they'd all retire for the night.

"What on earth are you doing, _Merlin_?" Arthur asked exasperated as the manservant didn't leave when he was dismissed for the night but returned to the fire and stretched himself out on the rug.

"I don't want him to feel lonely or get cold" Merlin explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You can't sleep on the floor, Merlin, it's an utterly ridiculous idea."

"I'm not leaving him, and your rooms are the warmest in the castle" Merlin said stubbornly.

"It's a wolf, it has fur for goodness sake!" Arthur exclaimed but Merlin only pursed his lips and stayed put. Arthur fought the urge to scream and instead threw back the bed covers.

"All right then, get in here." When Merlin only looked back at him in confusion, vaguely indicating himself and the wolf, Arthur rolled his eyes impatiently. "Yes, both the most useless idiot of a manservant and the wretched wolf cub gets to sleep in the royal bed tonight. Consider it a Christmas gift. Now get in here before I get cold."

When both Merlin and the small wolf were comfortably tucked in Arthur snuffed out the candle on the bedside table and tried to steal back his favourite pillow that Merlin had filched, without success.

"Best Christmas ever" Merlin sleepily proclaimed as he curled up protectively around the small wolf. "Good night, Arthur."

"Good night, Merlin."


	19. True Christmas spirit

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**True Christmas spirit**

Gwaine makes Leon see Christmas in a whole new light…

* * *

"Come on, I want to build a snow man." Gwaine's eyes shone with excitement and if they hadn't been sitting down Leon was sure that he would have bounced up and down.

"Gwaine, what are you, six years old?" he scoffed lightly at his boyfriend. "We need to finish these decorations and then go shopping and then we have to start with…"

"Need to, have to, blah blah blah." Gwaine rolled his eyes. "Haven't anyone told you that Christmas is supposed to be _fun_?"

"I'm not opposed to fun…" Leon started but was interrupted.

"Could have fooled me" Gwaine muttered.

"… it's just that we have guests coming and we need to get the house ready" Leon continued as if there hadn't been an interruption and Gwaine's shoulders slumped.

"All right, let's go get the shopping done" he sighed and got up to put his coat on.

The second that Leon had closed the door behind him he was tackled into the ground by his ridiculous boyfriend.

"Gotcha!" he shouted gleefully and Leon groaned when he felt a handful of snow making its way into his coat.

"Gwaine!" he shouted. "What the bloody hell are you doing?"

"Having fun in the snow" Gwaine grinned and even if his boyfriend was doing the most stupid, childish, immature and ludicrous things ever Leon couldn't find it in his heart to be angry when he smiled like that.

"You're crazy" Leon grumbled but he was smiling too now and Gwaine leaned in to kiss him. "I thought you wanted to _build_ a snow man, not to turn me into one."

"We'll get to that too" Gwaine promised winking.

It was well over an hour later when they got back inside, cheeks red, fingers numb from the cold and snow everywhere. The decorations were unfinished, the shopping wasn't done and dinner wasn't even started and yet Leon couldn't bring himself to care as he stretched out on the couch.

"This is the best part" Gwaine proclaimed as he handed Leon a cup of hot chocolate and snuggled up against him before he pulled a blanket over them both. Leon took a small sip and coughed in surprise when the alcohol hit his taste buds.

"What's in it?" he asked and Gwaine have him a mischievous smile.

"Irish special recipe" he answered and Leon gave him a hard look.

"You didn't pour Guinness or something in it, did you?"

"Nope" Gwaine said cheerily. "Bailey's."

"Figures" Leon mumbled but it was good and soon he'd emptied the whole cup, leaving him all warm, cosy and relaxed. Soon his eyelids drooped and he fell asleep with his boyfriend in his arms, thinking that Gwaine's idea of how to celebrate Christmas maybe wasn't so bad after all.


	20. A Merlinian Christmas Miracle

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**A Merlinian Christmas Miracle**

Merlin finds himself in a difficult situation when he travels to celebrate Christmas with his friends. Lucky for him there is a knight in shining armour coming to his rescue…

* * *

"Fuck!" Merlin hit the steering wheel in frustration and then banged his head against it too, for good measure. What had he done to deserve this? Why was the universe punishing him this way? Couldn't his car have decided to keep it together just a little longer? He groaned as he checked his cell phone again. Almost no battery and no reception whatsoever.

"Fuck!" he cursed again.

He'd so much looked forward to celebrating Christmas with all his friends and to see Gwen and Lancelot's new house but now it seemed that he wouldn't make it there. Sitting in his broken down car at the side of a rarely travelled road, late at Christmas Eve and with no other means of communication than shouting and hoping that someone might hear him the odds could certainly have been better. And to make things even worse, there was a heavy snow fall and bloody freezing outside. No one in their right mind would go out in this weather, apart from himself of course. But he'd had an emergency at work and had been forced to stay late and, by the looks of it, he was going to be even later now.

Merlin tried to calculate how far away from the house he was and if he'd even make it there on foot. Then he remembered hearing that it was safer to stay in the car and wait for assistance in situations like these. But he was already very cold and started to panic slightly. All the others had already arrived and he couldn't hope for any of his friends passing by. He curled into a ball to keep himself as warm as he could and tried to come up with a plan. But his thoughts were sluggish and unfocused and he was tired, so bloody tired. His eyelids slipped closed and he didn't have the energy to stop them.

When Merlin came to again he dimly realized that he wasn't in his car anymore. He was in a thankfully very warm and soft bed and a familiar person sat beside it.

"Merlin, how are you feeling?"

"Um, confused?" Merlin croaked and Lancelot held a glass of water to his lips.

"Better?" he asked with a smile as Merlin quickly drank all of it.

"Yeah" Merlin nodded, stretching his arms and legs and was relieved to find that everything seemed to be working fine. "What happened?" he asked Lancelot as he started to sit up. "Where's my car? _And why am I naked?_" Self-consciously he yanked the duvet up to his chin to cover up his body and glared at Lancelot, who simply held up a hand to soothe him.

"You were so cold, we had to get you warm quickly" he explained. "Body heat's the quickest way."

"_We_?" Merlin asked in alarm. Just exactly how many people had seen him naked? His feelings must have shown because Lancelot was quick to reassure him.

"Just me and Arthur" he said. "The others only helped carry you inside and bring blankets.

"_Arthur_ saw me naked?" Merlin spluttered mortified but before Lancelot had the time to answer someone entered the room.

"Arthur did a lot more than that in fact. Not only did he see you naked but he also slept beside you, all naked himself" Gwaine said cheerfully as Merlin blushed crimson red and hid under the duvet.

The gods of irony were seriously messing with him. When he finally got what he'd wanted to for years, Arthur Pendragon in all his glory, naked in his bed, it wasn't in an oh-baby-need-you so-bad-gonna-fuck-you-six-ways-to-Sunday kind of way but in a poor-little-Merlin-can't-take-care-of-himself-and-needs-to-be-rescued kind of way. Merlin groaned and decided right there and then that he'd live the rest of his life right under that very duvet to avoid any further embarrassment.

"Gwaine, get out!" Arthur ordered and both Lancelot and Gwaine, the latter extremely reluctantly, left the room. He held out a steaming cup of tea that Merlin accepted without daring to look at the blonde man.

"So, how are you feeling?" Arthur asked as the silence dragged out.

"Fine, really, never been better or hotter… I mean warmer!" Merlin nervously rambled and felt his blush deepen. Arthur always had that effect on him. Meanwhile, the man in question pulled some of the extra blankets off the bed and folded them.

"Yeah, we thought better safe than sorry, we pretty much put on all the blankets we could find. Ah, well, if you're all right then maybe I should… you know" he mumbled, squirming uncomfortably, and began to leave.

"Yeah, absolutely" Merlin answered, equally uncomfortable. "Um, just what happened really? I don't remember much."

"I was late from work, saw a car on the side and found you inside it, half turned into an icicle. Dragged you out, took you here and then Lancelot checked you over. Always on doctor duty, that one." Merlin nodded at this, if anyone was the perfect doctor then it would be Lancelot.

"He told us that you'd be fine as long as we got your body temperature up so we started turning up the radiators and getting every blanket we could find in here" Arthur continued. "But you weren't really warming up so he suggested that someone would get in bed with you, so you know, body heat and all that…" Arthur was blushing faintly now and Merlin was certain that his own cheeks were hot enough to fry an egg on.

"So you… did that?" he croaked although he already knew the answer and Arthur looked at the floor.

"Well, I… Someone had to, right? I mean… Gwaine offered of course but Percival hit him over the head." Merlin chuckled at this, he hadn't yet met Gwaine's new boyfriend but he had a feeling that he liked the guy already.

"I can imagine" he mumbled. "Hey, thanks for… you know."

"It was my pleasure" Arthur blurted out before looking horrified when he realized what he'd just said. "I mean, you're welcome" he quickly amended, his facial colour now just shy of matching Merlin's.

They both stared at each other until a loud catcall from the door announced that Gwaine was back.

"Whoa, it's certainly hot in here" he commented, taking in the blush on both of the other's faces. "So fellas, how about we get this show started?" Any protest that either Arthur or Merlin might have tried to voice was quickly ruled out by Gwaine as he pulled up a chair and plopped down.

"It's getting really annoying to see the two of you dance around each other so let's get a few things clear, shall we?" Without waiting for an answer Gwaine continued, looking at Arthur. "Merlin here is all embarrassed because he has a crush on you Arthur and he thinks that you only care for him as a friend." Gwaine then turned to Merlin. "Well Merlin, I can tell you that Arthur here would rather have killed me than let me get into that bed of yours since he fancies you since, well forever. So, with this new information at hand, how about the two of you actually do something about it and stop this pointless pining? We're all heading to the pub so feel free to be as loud as you like." And with that, and an exaggerated bow, Gwaine sauntered out and closed the door behind him.

"Well, that was certainly… um…" Arthur said hesitantly.

"The most embarrassing thing ever?" Merlin suggested and Arthur nodded.

"Yeah" he acquiesced, scratching his head. "So… I like you, you like me, we have a house to ourselves and our friends already expects us to fuck each other's brains out so why don't we?"

It wasn't the most romantic proposal that Merlin had ever had but it was from Arthur and that made it prefect.

"You're so lucky I already fancy you, idiot" he mumbled and threw the covers back in invitation.


	21. The dangers of Christmas decorating

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**The dangers of Christmas decorating**

Even such an innocent activity as decorating the house for Christmas comes with dangers lurking about…

* * *

"Arthur?" Merlin's voice faintly came from the living room. "Have you seen the decorations that we use to put up on the porch? The lights and all that?"

"No" Arthur answered his boyfriend, not looking up from his computer. "Maybe in the basement or something."

"Could you go have a look?" Arthur didn't really fancy getting up from his comfortable position on the bed and decided to pretend that he hadn't heard the question. It worked for half a minute before Merlin appeared on the threshold, his best puppy dog eyes pleadingly looking at Arthur.

"Please?" he said and Arthur felt his resolve melt away. Damn those blue eyes and damn Merlin for taking such advantage of having them.

"Fine" he grumbled and got up.

Not five minutes later a blood curdling scream was heard and Merlin dropped the candles that he was carrying in alarm.

"Arthur?" He ran towards the stairs. "What happened?" Arthur appeared, almost flying up the stairs, throwing the box of Christmas decorations in Merlin's general direction and didn't stop until he was safely curled up on the bed. Merlin frowned and followed him.

"Arthur? Are you all right?"

"Yes, fine" his boyfriend answered shortly but Merlin could see that he was still shaken and joined him on the bed.

"What happened?" he asked again. "You screamed…"

"It was a spider, all right" Arthur said curtly and Merlin couldn't help laughing at this. His big, badass nobody-messes-with-a-Pendragon boyfriend was afraid of an itty bitty little spider. It was hilarious to think of, and even more so when he considered telling Gwaine about the whole incident.

"Didn't know that you're scared of spiders" he chuckled.

"I am not _scared_" Arthur haughtily corrected him. "I just don't _like_ them very much, that's all."

"I see, so that's why you screamed like a little girl, because you don't _like_ them, that's…"

"Shut up, _Merlin_" Arthur interrupted him while cuffing him over the head.

"Ow!" Merlin protested. "If you're not being nice to me, I'm telling Gwaine about this."

"No!" Arthur backed off, his eyes wide. "You wouldn't!"

"I might" Merlin said smugly. "You never know…"

"That's not fair" Arthur complained. "That's blackmail."

"Yep" Merlin said cheerfully. "But as long as you're being nice to me you have nothing to fear."

"Oh, I can be very nice" Arthur said suggestively and pulled his boyfriend closer. Merlin leaned into the embrace and sighed when Arthur's lips found his. The kiss went from sweet to heated and when they finally parted for air both of them panted slightly.

"Mm, yes, this is very nice" Merlin purred. "But you know what would be even nicer?" he asked. "You, helping me put up the rest of the decorations." Arthur groaned.

"Come on now, love, or else I might give Gwaine yet another reason to call you princess" Merlin said cheekily.

"Unfair" Arthur muttered as Merlin pulled him into the living room.


	22. A secret errand

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**A secret errand**

Gwaine gets injured in a mysterious way and Percival don't know what to make of it, especially since Gwaine won't tell him how it happened…

* * *

"For the last fucking time, I wasn't bloody drunk!" Gwaine shouted at his boyfriend.

"Then why the hell won't you tell me what the hell you were doing?" Percival shouted back and Gwaine winced. It wasn't often that Percival was angry enough to lose control like this and he'd forgotten just how loud Percival could be. Their neighbour next door decided to join in by banging the wall and shouting at them to shut up.

"You shut up!" both men answered in chorus and for a while blessed silence reigned. At last Percival sighed heavily, swept a hand over his face and composed himself.

"We better get going, otherwise we'll be late." He hoisted both of their bags over his shoulder and supported Gwaine through the door and into the car. It was going to be one long, very awkward journey.

After two hours of complete silence Percival couldn't be quiet anymore.

"I know that you don't want to talk about this, Gwaine" he said calmly, "but I need to know what happened."

"It's none of your business" Gwaine snapped. He just wanted to forget the whole incident which was hard enough even without his boyfriend's questions, as the broken bone in his foot and the accompanying throbbing ache kept reminding him.

"I'm only going to ask you this once" Percival continued as if he hadn't heard. "And if you can't answer me truthfully then I'm afraid I won't be celebrating Christmas with you." Gwaine whipped around to stare surprisedly at his boyfriend.

"What are you talking about?"

"Were you seeing Cenred?" Percival asked.

"What?" Gwaine exclaimed. "You thought that I… that I cheated on you? You bloody tosser, I would never do that! Stop the bloody car right now!" Percival pulled over and didn't turn to look at Gwaine before he'd stopped the car completely.

"How could you even think that?" Gwaine murmured, struggling with the door and his crutches. "I'm going to…" Before he managed to do more than undo his seatbelt Percival locked the car doors and put a heavy hand on Gwaine's knee to stop him. Gwaine still refused to look at him and Percival sighed.

"Then what am I supposed to believe? They call me from the hospital and you yell at them because you didn't want them to contact me, you were found in the area where your ex-boyfriend lives and you refuse to tell me what business you had there and somehow you have managed to break a bone in your foot. So tell me Gwaine, what exactly am I supposed to think?"

Gwaine had to admit that Percival had a point but it still stung. He'd abandoned his player lifestyle when he met Percival and he'd hoped that his boyfriend felt that he could trust him. Still, they'd get through this as well, even if it wasn't in the way that he had envisioned. He took a deep breath.

"I had hoped to do this a bit differently but…" Gwaine shrugged and turned to look straight at Percival. "I didn't want the hospital to call you because I didn't want to worry you and I didn't want you to know where I was found. Not because I've cheated on you with Cenred, I haven't seen him since we broke up, but because I've was there on a secret errand that I didn't want you to know about just yet. I didn't think that I'd be so stupid as to slip on a bloody ice patch and ruin everything." He swallowed and continued. "Anyway, I do hope you forgive me for not going down on one knee and all that but given the circumstances…" Gwaine indicated his foot and the fact that they were sitting in a car and nervously swallowed again. "Percival, I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you and I want to ask you if you'll marry me?" He pulled his hand from the coat pocket and opened it to reveal a simple golden ring with an inscription resting on his palm.

For long moments they just stared at each other, Gwaine nervously and Percival completely gobsmacked.

"So you…" he stammered. "The ring, you went to Elyan's workshop" he uttered with a sudden realization. "But Gwaine, that must have cost a fortune, you shouldn't have…"

"Is that a no?" Gwaine said, still holding out the ring with a hand that shook slightly.

"Yes!" Percival blurted out and then realized what he'd just said. "I mean no! I mean of course I want to marry you!"

They did, in fact, arrive late to the Christmas dinner. Not so much because they started their journey too late but because the improvised stop dragged out to last well over two hours and would probably have been even longer, if a police car had not pulled up and advised them to move along before they got arrested for public indecency. When they finally arrived nobody commented on the fact that they were late since Percival's new ring and Gwaine's rather prominent love bite on the neck more than explained the reason for their tardiness.


	23. Home for Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Home for Christmas**

Arthur hosts a Christmas cocktail party but something's missing…

* * *

Finally the last guest was out the door and Arthur sank down on the couch with a sigh. The place looked like it had been turned upside down by a herd of stampeding elephants but he couldn't find it in himself to care about it, and his cleaning crew would take care of it in the morning anyway. He tried to relax, brought out a beer, put his feet up on the coffee table and turned on the TV but he couldn't ignore the itching feeling in his body and he didn't know why.

The party had been a success. He'd received compliments on both the food and the decorations and everybody had seemed to enjoy themselves. The guest list had mostly been decided by Uther but Arthur had managed to invite some of his friends as well and, apart from having to avoid certain hopeful parents with pretty daughters that they were only too happy to parade in front of Arthur, the evening had went well. Uther, of course, had not been pleased. In his opinion Arthur had spent too little time talking to the people who mattered and not making enough useful contacts. Also, the champagne wasn't cold enough, the Christmas themed canapés were not sophisticated enough and, although it wasn't mentioned, Arthur suspected that his father would have wanted the snow to be a bit whiter and fluffier. Leon, who'd heard part of the conversation, had given Arthur a pat on the shoulder before he headed home and Arthur was grateful to know that his friends had his back. He was used to his father criticizing him, however, and it shouldn't make him feel this ill at ease.

Arthur decided to take a shower and then get to bed but he couldn't fall asleep and tossed and turned for over an hour before he realized what was wrong. He missed Merlin. As Uther had made it perfectly clear that Merlin was not to attend any of the family gatherings for the holidays he'd decided to celebrate Christmas back home with his mum instead. Arthur was invited too and he'd only declined because he knew that Uther would be furious if Arthur didn't join him at the manor. Merlin had been a bit hurt but he understood and Arthur had promised him that they'd celebrate together next year. Arthur was certain that he could make Uther understand that what he referred to as 'this thing with that boy' wasn't just a temporary infatuation, that Arthur intended to spend the rest of his life with Merlin.

But now he wasn't so sure anymore. Uther hadn't stopped introducing Arthur to this or that girl and even started to point out how lovely certain of the waitresses were. He'd even gone as far as pulling Arthur away from Gwaine as he claimed that people could get the wrong impression as it was public knowledge that Gwaine was bisexual. Arthur felt his blood boil when he thought of this and an anger that he didn't know he was capable of feeling surfaced. He'd done everything perfectly, done everything like his father wanted him too, and still it wasn't enough. Because Arthur was gay and that was something that Uther could not accept.

"Screw this!" Arthur shouted as he threw the covers back, shoved some clothes into a bag and grabbed his car keys. He was going to Ealdor. He didn't care that Uther would throw a huge tantrum, didn't care what he would say. Arthur wanted Merlin right now, and nothing else was important.

After four hours in a car Arthur wasn't feeling so certain anymore. He knew that Hunith liked him well enough but he wasn't so sure what she'd make of him appearing in the middle of the night, dressed in a pyjamas and with sleep tousled hair. He tentatively got out of the car and slung the bag over his shoulder. Then, instead of knocking on the door, he called his boyfriend.

"Arthur?" Merlin's voice was heavy with sleep and Arthur couldn't help but smile when he heard it. "Time is it?" he mumbled.

"Don't know" Arthur answered. "Listen, I hope it's not a bad time or anything…" Merlin snorted, sounding more awake now.

"Of course not" he said sarcastically. "It's only… three in the morning. Perfectly normal time to call anyone, I'd say." When Arthur didn't retaliate at this Merlin became worried. "Did something happen?" he asked quickly. "Arthur? Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, no, I don't know" Arthur said. "Listen, can you let me in?"

"Let you in?" Merlin said unbelievingly and Arthur could hear the sheets rustle as Merlin sat up. "Where are you?"

"On your mother's front porch, currently freezing my ass off" Arthur said, then for good measure adding: "And seeing that that particular of my anatomy is one of your favourites you'd do well to ensure that no lasting damage is…"

"Oh, hush you prat, I'm getting down" Merlin interrupted and ten seconds later the door was opened to reveal a sleepy, tousled, barely dressed and very lovely boyfriend that Arthur couldn't help but hug tightly. Despite said boyfriend's protests about Arthur being cold because Arthur was finally _home_.

They slept late and it was almost lunch time when they entered the kitchen. Hunith waved away Arthur's apologies for crashing in on her like that and promptly set the two of them to work. Arthur wished that the Christmas dinner would never end. He wanted to spend the rest of his life like this, with people he loved, people who loved him back and wanted the best for him. After the food was put away Arthur and Merlin lounged on the couch and Hunith had gone to visit one of their neighbours.

"I think I've eaten too much" Arthur groaned when Merlin shifted on top of him and accidentally poked him with his elbow.

"Then maybe you should take a run with me?" Merlin suggested. "Work off some of that pork." He playfully poked a finger into Arthur's belly and laughed when Arthur lazily batted his hand away.

"Nope" he said. "I can think of more interesting ways to exercise." He rolled over so that he was on top of Merlin instead and grinned mischievously. "And we have the whole house to ourselves to do it."


	24. Good for what ails you

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Good for what ails you**

It's almost Christmastime and Camelot and all her citizens anxiously await the return of those who's fought for their freedom.

* * *

Merlin strained his neck as he stood on the stairs leading to the citadel, trying to get a better look of the tiny riders that slowly approached Camelot. Around him stood others that were also eagerly awaiting the return of their husband, betrothed or secret sweetheart and the air was buzzing with excitement and apprehension. They were all too aware that not all of those who rode out all those weeks ago would make it back home safely. Merlin could only hope that he wouldn't have to mourn yet another friend. After what felt like an eternity the riders finally entered the courtyard and Merlin looked desperately for long chestnut hair and an easy smile.

His eyes found Leon, battered and bruised, and with his red cloak torn to tatters, but very much alive and he grinned in return when the blonde knight greeted him, before being whisked away to report to Arthur. Next he saw Percival, hard to miss since he towered over everyone else and Merlin let out a relived sigh as the tall knight seemed unhurt. Still there was no sign of Gwaine and Merlin he started to get anxious. Fighting his way through the crowd he managed to get close enough to Percival for the knight to hear him through all the noise.

"Gwaine?" he asked and as Percival's face fell, so did Merlin's heart. He pointed towards one of the wagons carrying the most seriously injured knights before he was asked to help support a man with a large bandage wrapped around his leg and hurried away. Merlin knew that he should be with Gaius right now, as the injured would soon start to make their way to the makeshift infirmary that they'd set up in a rarely used dining hall, but everything was prepared and he had to see Gwaine first. He just _had_ to.

Heart beating heavily he scanned the nearest wagon with no success, and then the next and the one after that. It wasn't until he approached the last one that he identified the long brown hair that he'd been looking for all day. Just one look at his love had Merlin's heart sinking. Gwaine was burning with fever and barely conscious, and the wound on his leg was clearly infected. Merlin forced back a sob. He could not lose Gwaine, not like this.

::

They all did what they could. Gaius, Merlin, Gwen, anyone with any medical knowledge worked without resting to help those who'd been wounded. The knights helped out with carrying and lifting their injured brothers-in-arms and the castle servants helped boiling water and bringing clean linens for bandages.

After two days a few of the injured knights had passed away but the rest seemed to be on the road to recovery. Everyone but Gwaine. His fever was still high and nothing they did seemed to be able to get his temperature down. He was unconscious most of the time, hallucinating in his sleep and even Merlin started to think that they'd lose him. Not even his magic worked and he was frustrated over how little he could do. The pale man in front of him was the love of his life and all he could do was to watch him die it seemed. When there was nothing left to do but to make sure that Gwaine was comfortable and at peace, Merlin sat with him. For long, so endlessly long, hours he held Gwaine's hand, brushed the hair away from his forehead and talked to him so that the knight knew that whatever came next he wasn't alone. He spoke of everyday matters, of his home village, remembered the first time he met Gwaine, the first time they kissed. He talked and talked until his throat was raw and Gwaine's breathing evened out.

::

The next morning Gaius shook him awake and Merlin winced as his muscles protested against sleeping sitting in an uncomfortable chair.

"Merlin, look." He nodded towards Gwaine, who now breathed evenly and gently. Merlin put a careful hand to the knight's forehead and sobbed with relief to find that his skin was cool and dry, not hot and clammy, and that he was resting peacefully and not plagued with feverish nightmares anymore.

"He pulled through, my boy, he pulled through" Gaius murmured as he hugged Merlin tightly and rocked him gently, like a child.

Merlin held out a goblet of spiced (and watered down) wine. Gwaine had woken up some time ago and, being Gwaine, he'd claimed that he would die from thirst unless someone brought him a drink immediately. Merlin hadn't known whether to laugh or hit him, or both.

::

"Here" he said and helped Gwaine sit up so that he could drink it. "Good for what ails you" he attempted to joke but his voice broke and Gwaine pulled him closer.

"No, you're good for what ails me" he said, voice equally filled with emotion. "I heard you. Your voice was what kept me here. I was drifting away, nearly gone, and then I heard you talking to me and it made me come back. I came back to you." For a couple of moments they were content just to hold each other, knowing that they still had each other.

"Shouldn't you be at the feast?" Gwaine then asked and Merlin shook his head. "But why?" the knight asked. "You've been looking forward to the Christmas feast for ages and I'm fine now." Merlin raised an eyebrow and Gwaine at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish. "Maybe not fine, but at least much better." Merlin rolled his eyes. Only Gwaine could say such a thing after having been on the brink of death mere hours ago.

"Merlin, you've talked about how much you wanted to see those performers since Arthur told you they were coming. You can't miss it!" Gwaine insisted and Merlin cupped his face.

"There's nowhere else I rather be right now" he said and moved in for a long, tender kiss.


	25. Ugly as homemade sin

Author's note

A real short one, just a little something that I came up with right now, but I hope you like it all the same.

Basically a cute drabble...

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Ugly as homemade sin**

Arthur receives a Christmas present and it's not exactly what he'd imagined getting…

* * *

"Wow, Merlin, it's… it's very, um, unique" Arthur managed at last, turning the small object over in his hands. "Just, uh, what is it?" he asked and Merlin smiled excitedly.

"It's a NoseBuddy. A travel size one, since you're away a lot." Arthur still looked at him blankly and Merlin continued. "You put water in it, and salt, and then you rinse your nose with it. It's really good when you have a runny nose or to prevent colds, and you always get sick when you travel a lot." Merlin beamed at him and Arthur was at loss of what to do. Clearly Merlin had put a lot of thought behind his gift and it was nice of him to give Arthur something to help with the colds he always picked up at the airports and train stations that he visited. Still, Merlin was into yoga and herbal remedies and as for Arthur, well, he was a bit more traditional and tended to stick to Aspirin when he was ill.

"So it's like a watering can for the nose?" he asked at last and Merlin laughed at this.

"I guess, but you're not to pour it into your nose, the water's supposed to flush out again. But don't worry, there's an instruction as well, so you'll know what to do."

"Good good, that's good" Arthur murmured and continued to turn the plastic can in his hands.

"Do you like it?" Merlin asked hesitantly and Arthur could clearly see the insecurity in his eyes. They hadn't dated for so long and this was their first Christmas together. He looked Merlin deeply in the eyes and smiled.

"I love it." He placed a light kiss on Merlin's lips. "Thank you so much."

It didn't matter that Arthur would rather run naked through the canteen at work at lunchtime than use the stupid pot or that the thing itself was ugly as homemade sin. What mattered was that Merlin had gotten it for him.


	26. Something's missing

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Something's missing**

Gwaine's being moody and Merlin tries to figure out what's wrong…

* * *

"What's wrong?" Merlin asked since his lover hadn't said one word during the whole evening, and in Gwaine's case that was cause for some serious alarm.

"Nothing" Gwaine said shortly and continued to stare into the fire. Now Merlin definitely knew something was amiss and he manoeuvred himself around so that he could look Gwaine in the eyes.

"Didn't you like the feast?" he asked, searching Gwaine's face for clues but he just stared blankly into the fire and shrugged.

"Are you still worn out from the last patrol, maybe?" Still no answer, just another shrug and Merlin frowned. This was really not like Gwaine and, come to think of it, he'd been a bit moody for a couple of days now. The need that Merlin felt to find out what was bothering Gwaine just increased.

"Were you disappointed with your gifts then?"

"No, I liked them."

"Is your shoulder still hurting from training?"

"My shoulder's fine."

"Was it something Arthur said?" Merlin continued stubbornly, knowing that Arthur had been hard on Gwaine since he found out that they were lovers.

"Nope, Princess' just being his usual pratty self" Gwaine said, attempting a smile. "Merlin, stop worrying, everything's fine."

"See, that's why I don't believe you" Merlin said. "You forget that I know you well enough to tell the difference between when you smile for real and when you're pretending to be fine just so that everyone stops asking you what's wrong."

"I see there's no fooling you" Gwaine said winking and slid his hands around Merlin's waist. "How lucky I am, to have a lover that's both smart and handsome." His hands continued lower and Merlin leaned into the embrace at first, only to pull back a moment later.

"Oh no, you don't!" he said warningly as he gripped Gwaine's wrists. "You're not going to side-track me by groping my arse, although I have to say that it was a good attempt." He looked at Gwaine sternly. "What's wrong?" His lover tried to turn away but Merlin didn't allow it, keeping a firm hold of Gwaine's hands.

"It's stupid" Gwaine said after a while. "It's really nothing." Merlin just kept looking at him encouragingly and Gwaine sighed. "Promise you won't laugh" he said and Merlin nodded.

"I promise."

"I miss the snow" Gwaine admitted. "I know that everyone think it's better like this, when it's not so cold, the roads are easier to travel and no one has to spend their days shovelling snow but there's something missing. It doesn't really _feel_ like Christmas without it." He looked up. "We always had snow at Christmas when I grew up" he said softly and Merlin pulled him into a hug. Gwaine rarely talked about his family but apparently this was something that meant a lot to him, and Merlin would make sure that he had his prefect Christmas after all.

"Let's go to bed" he suggested. "Maybe it'll snow, I heard a travelling merchant talking about it yesterday, that colder weather was approaching." Gwaine didn't look to hopeful but allowed Merlin to pull him down under the covers and rested his head on Merlin's chest.

When Merlin was sure that Gwaine had fallen asleep he whispered a few words in the old language and his eyes flashed briefly in gold. Merlin smiled. When Gwaine woke up the next morning it would be to a winter wonderland.


	27. I'd never say that(but I might think it)

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**I'd never say that (but I might think it)**

Merlin gets an, according to himself, brilliant idea and convinces Arthur to come along for some wintery fun…

* * *

"Are you sure?" Arthur asked hesitantly, looking at his boyfriend with concern. "Maybe we should do something a bit… safer?"

"Come on, Arthur, don't be such a prat!" Merlin brushed him off as he rushed around the hall and pulled on gloves and his warmest knitted hat. "It's not like I'm suggesting we go base jumping or something like that. It's just ice skating, everyone can do it."

"As long as they have a minimum of control over their limbs that is" Arthur pointed out, earning himself a shove from Merlin.

"You clotple! I'll have you know that I've skated loads of times before. I'll show you…" Merlin muttered as he shoved their skates and warm socks, and a million other things that Arthur couldn't even begin to understand why they'd need, into a bag.

"Are you coming or what?" Merlin said and impatiently stamped his foot and Arthur couldn't help but think that his boyfriend really was such a child sometimes.

"Yeah" he answered with a grin. "Can't wait to see you fall on your ass." Merlin huffed and slammed the door in Arthur's face in response.

::

It turned out that Arthur didn't have to wait long. Merlin took a cautions step onto the ice, smiled triumphantly and then found himself on his back.

"Ouch" he moaned as Arthur exploded with laughter. "Help me up, you prat. It's not funny" Merlin pouted and Arthur hauled him to his feet. This time Merlin managed to stand for ten whole seconds before falling again. When he scrambled to get to his feet he fell again. And again. By this point Arthur was on his knees on the ice, laughing so hard that he almost couldn't breathe. Merlin had lost his hat and his hair was tousled and sweaty, sticking to his forehead. His cheeks were bright red and he looked furious and embarrassed at the same time.

"You're so mean" he nearly shouted, hitting the ice in frustration. "You pompous, pratty, pillock of a Pendragon." Merlin's words were angry but he looked as if he'd start crying soon and Arthur pulled himself together. He offered Merlin his hand and steadied his boyfriend until he'd found his balance.

"All right?" he asked, only getting a stubborn glare in return. They skated together for a while and when it looked like Merlin had gotten the hang of it Arthur decided to take a break, rest his feet and see if there were any of the cookies left in the bag. He undid the laces of the skates and shivered as he pushed his feet into his ice cold shoes but there was at least some room to wriggle his toes that way. Arthur had barely stuffed the first one into his mouth when he heard a loud yell.

"Merlin?" Frantically searching for his boyfriend he pushed the crowd aside and saw Merlin curled up on his side, completely still on the ice. He was holding his left hand to his chest and blood covered his forehead. Arthur dropped to his knees beside him and tried to assess the damage.

"Merlin? Can you hear me?" Arthur lightly shook his shoulder. "Merlin?"

"Hurts" Merlin moaned quietly without opening his eyes and Arthur carefully lifted him into his arms.

"Let's get you to a hospital."

::

"Please, do go on, tell me" Merlin muttered sarcastically from under the hospital blankets. "I can see you're dying to." He rearranged the pillow with the arm currently not in a cast and glared at his boyfriend.

"Dying to do what?" Arthur grinned innocently and leaned in closer, resting his elbows on the bed.

"To say 'I told you so.' "

"I'd never say that" Arthur protested, kissing Merlin on the lips and then his smile widened. "But I might think it."


	28. Blessed warmth

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Blessed warmth**

Leon returns home from a patrol cold and weary and Gwaine takes care of him…

* * *

"Let's get you warmed up, shall we?" Leon thought that he'd never heard Gwaine say anything better as he turned towards his lover and allowed himself to be pulled into a bone-crushing hug. They had not intended to be gone for so many days but a sudden snow storm had delayed them and the men from the patrol that returned to the castle were chilled to the bones and very weary. As soon as Leon had made sure that everyone had settled in their quarters and reported to Arthur his feet seemed to move of their own accord and he didn't stop until he was outside Gwaine's chambers. He didn't bother knocking and just pushed the door open to reveal a roaring fire, a plate of food and, best of all, a steaming bath tub. Gwaine looked up from the fire he was stoking, smiled and motioned for Leon to enter.

There was no need to talk as their eyes said it all. The gratitude of having each other, the relief of being safe and together once more and, above all, the warmth of the love they shared. Gwaine pressed sweet kisses to Leon's face and chest as he helped his lover undress and then unceremoniously shucked his own clothes on the floor. There would be time later for passion, for frenzied caresses and uninhibited pleasure but right now warmth, comfort and care was what Leon needed. Gwaine added more hot water to the tub and motioned for the other man to get in.

Leon slowly lowered himself into the hot water and hissed when it almost burned his frozen body. Gwaine steadied him until he was comfortable in the water and then joined him.

"Let me take care of you" Gwaine whispered and Leon sank back against his chest, resting his head against Gwaine's shoulder. The warm water slowly started to relax Leon's muscles and his eyelids grew heavy as the steady beat of Gwaine's heart lulled him to sleep.

When Leon became aware of his surroundings again Gwaine rinsed his hair, humming softly under his breath as he made sure that Leon didn't get any soap in his eyes.

"You back with me?" he asked and pressed a kiss first to Leon's temple and then to his cheek.

"Yes" Leon answered, turning his head and seeking out Gwaine's lips. "I'm with you."


	29. No fun in the snow, I'll have you know

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**No fun in the snow, I'll have you know**

Merlin's fallen ill and a certain knight is to blame for that. Arthur's not happy about it…

* * *

"You're late" Arthur said without looking up from the documents and maps that covered his desk. "Where have you been?"

"I'm sorry, Sire" Merlin panted and Arthur shot his manservant a critical look, a look that turned concerned as he took in his appearance. Merlin's hair was plastered to his forehead, his cheeks were bright red and his eyes were slightly glazed over. He clearly had a fever and was breathing heavily.

"Are you all right?" Arthur asked and immediately felt stupid. Merlin clearly wasn't as he was practically swaying were he stood, holding a large plate of food. "You should go back to bed."

"I can work" Merlin stubbornly insisted, before he leaned forward to put Arthur's breakfast on the table, fainted and hit his head on the floor. Arthur jumped up, swearing, and hoisted his manservant's limp body over his shoulder to carry him to Gaius.

::

"Will he be all right?" Arthur asked as Gaius finished examining Merlin.

"Yes, Sire, I believe so. He's simply overexerted himself while coming down with a bad flu, with time and rest he will recover."

"That's good" Arthur said, and then he frowned. "But I don't understand how he could have gotten so ill. With the castle practically snowed in there haven't been many patrols, or training sessions outside. Are your chambers still too cold?" Gaius' chambers had proven to be too cold during the harsh winter and he and Merlin had temporarily been moved to some of the guest quarters until it was warmer.

"No, Sire, these chambers are perfectly good. No, I do believe it is because Merlin spent the whole yesterday afternoon outside with Sir Gwaine. He was rather cold when he returned for supper."

"Right." Arthur nodded to Gaius and went to have a word with a certain knight.

::

"Gwaine!" Arthur shouted as he barged into the dining hall and impatiently scanned the tables were the knights were seated for the midday meal. "A word, _now_."

"But of course" Gwaine smiled and gave a mocking bow. "Right this instant, Sire." Arthur huffed and turned on his heel. As soon as the knight entered the hallway Arthur scowled at him.

"What gave you the right to drag Merlin outside and make him freeze his arse off yesterday?" he demanded to know and Gwaine raised an eyebrow.

"Well princess, if you must know, I had the day off and Merlin had finished his chores, which would leave both of us free to choose what we want to do, and with whom" he retorted easily and Arthur growled angrily.

"Well, Sir Knight, a fine choice you made then, seeing as Merlin is now so ill that he needs bed rest." Worry immediately lined Gwaine's brow.

"But how…? He seemed fine yesterday."

"In case you hadn't noticed, Merlin's as skinny as a twig" Arthur sneered. "It doesn't take that much to make him catch a cold." Gwaine's posture stiffened and he glared at his king.

"Funny you'd noticed that, _Sire_," Gwaine shot back, "seeing as you've made no attempt to get him warmer winter clothes."

"I didn't expect you to drag him around in the snow" Arthur defended himself haughtily but he did feel a twinge of guilt. Merlin easily got cold and seeing that the winter had been unusually harsh Arthur should have paid attention to the fact that Merlin might need warmer clothes.

"He wanted to. If you listened a little more you'd know that Merlin loves snow." They stood face to face now, the king and the knight, glaring at each other for several long moments. Then Gwaine spoke.

"So what's _really_ bothering you, princess? The fact that you'll have to make do without a servant for the next couple of days or the fact that I spend time alone with Merlin?" With that Gwaine returned to his meal and left Arthur sputtering in his wake to consider what the knight had implied. Arthur composed himself and stalked off. He didn't care one bit about what Gwaine thought. He most certainly was _not_ jealous.

::

But the next thing that he did was to make sure that Merlin would have plenty of additional chores that would just happen to coincide with Gwaine's free days, very unfortunate of course, but life can't always be fair. And after that Arthur did commission a thick winter cloak lined with fur for Merlin. Really, even if Merlin was a terrible servant Arthur couldn't be bothered with training a new one every time Merlin was out with a cold.

But he most certainly wasn't jealous. Not at all.


	30. Gag gift, not so funny

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**Gag gift, not so funny**

Arthur screws up royally and has to crawl for forgiveness…

* * *

"Can someone please tell me what I did wrong since it apparently is my fault?" Arthur said acidly and glared at his friends who'd gathered in his living room. Gwen sighed, Morgana rolled her eyes and Merlin looked downright pissed off.

"He doesn't even know" Gwaine groaned, putting his face in his hands. "Oh dear me, what are we going to do with that one?"

"I'd say we hit him over the head but killing the last few brain cells he has isn't solving much" Merlin muttered as Morgana and Gwen exchanged looks.

"If someone could be so kind as to tell me what the fuck I did wrong_, right now!_" Arthur exploded, suddenly fed up with people talking in riddles. "So what, I got Leon a crappy gift, big deal. Happens all the time. Doesn't mean he should just run off sulking like a baby, does it?"

"You didn't just give Leon a 'crappy gift' " Merlin said vehemently, quoting Arthur. "You embarrassed him in front of the whole bloody office. Well done, you." He gave Arthur a sarcastic applause before getting off the couch and offering his hand to Morgana.

"Leaving?" he asked her.

"Leaving" she confirmed and turned to Arthur. "Make up with Leon" she told him, making it sound like a threat, before following Merlin out. Gwaine and Gwen were next to leave as he'd promised to drive her home. Arthur looked around his now empty living room and wondered what the hell he should do.

::

He tried calling Leon but his friend didn't answer. He texted but got no replies. He then tried with Percival, who'd gone with Leon, but without success. And since he absolutely refused to call his sister and get her further involved in this he steeled himself and punched in Merlin's number.

"How thick-headed can a person be?" Merlin asked in lieu of a greeting and then barrelled on without waiting for an answer. "You really don't know what you did? Leon' just started to admit to himself and his closest friends that he is gay and you basically scream it out to the world with that idiotic gag gift."

"You make it sound like it's such a big deal!" Arthur snapped. "Plenty of people are gay, or bi, and they…"

"... At least get to choose when and to whom they come out" Merlin interrupted. "Have you already forgotten crying on my sofa because you were scared people would hate you for being bi?"

"No, but…" Arthur tried but was interrupted again.

"And if Leon was bi, like you, he could just have continued as normal, no problem. But now that he'd realized he's gay, his whole life changes. He's disappointing his parents that expected him to marry Mithian and he's going to have to look for a new job as the head of the Legal department is a homophobic cunt that would rather die than to promote him. And your _stupid_ gift on top of that."

"But I… I didn't mean it like that." Arthur murmured, feeling as if his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. "It was just a laugh and I support him and he…"

"And not to mention," Merlin continued as if he hadn't heard Arthur, "he has to deal with the fact that he likes his best friend and that said best friend clearly indicated that he's not interested by choosing a supposedly funny book of gay dating rules as a Christmas gift. Oh, and not to mention, that said best friend _also_ offered to go cruising for a bear that would like to adopt a, and I quote, 'curly-haired little cub.' So you've managed both to out him, embarrass him and friend-zone him all at once. As I said, well done."

Complete silence reigned after this, on Merlin's part because he needed to take a breath and on Arthur's part because he needed to wrap his head around what Merlin had just said. He'd always liked Leon but he'd also known that nothing could ever come of it because Leon was as straight as they came.

"You know I like Leon" Arthur stammered. "I always have. But he's…"

"Straight?" Merlin filled in. "Nope. So fix it, you clotpole." Then he hung up on Arthur who was left sitting staring into space, still pressing the now silent phone to his ear. How could he not have noticed that Leon was interested? How could he not have noticed that Leon was _gay_ for crying out loud? Granted, he'd had a busy period at work, but still… Arthur sighed and thought that he probably was a strong contender for the Crappiest Best Friend of the Year Award. He's have to go see Leon and make things right before he ended up winning the whole bloody competition, as well as lost his friend.

::

An hour later Arthur was standing in front of Leon's door, as he had for the past ten minutes. He'd lifted his hand ever so often to knock but always lost his courage at the last moment and dropped it back down. Before he could make another attempt the door was yanked open to reveal a slightly annoyed Leon.

"Are you going to stand there all night or what?" he asked as he opened the door. "It's a bloody snow storm tonight, Arthur, just get in here already. Or go home, for all I care." Leon stalked back to the living room and left Arthur to nervously fret in the hallway as he took off his coat and shoes, deliberately doing it slowly to give him some more time. On the drive over he'd practiced what to say but now he couldn't remember any of it and he decided that he'd just had to improvise. Sadly, that was not his forte.

"So, I guess was a bit of an idiot" he said and regretted the words the second they were out of his mouth when he saw Leon flinch. He'd not been a bit of an idiot, he'd been a giant, ignorant, oblivious and thoughtless idiot that had messed really up. Leon deserved a better apology than that.

"You could say that" his friend answered tightly and Arthur could see that Leon gripped his beer bottle so hard that his knuckles whitened. "You could also say that you've acted like a bloody dickwad of a moron" Leon continued, his voice rising, and Arthur hung his head. He supposed that Leon's description was fairly accurate.

"I'm sorry" he said quietly as it seemed to be the safest thing to say and Leon chuckled humourlessly.

"You should be. You damn well should be."

"Listen," Arthur said pleadingly, "I'll help you out at work, I'll let you tell people at your own pace, that joke was so tacky, I shouldn't have said anything like that, I won't in the future, I'm so sorry I haven't been there for you these last moths and I… and I just don't want to lose you as a friend. Can you forgive me?" Arthur was so into his apologetic speech that he didn't notice Leon flinching again, this time when Arthur said the word 'friend'.

"I forgive you" Leon said in a flat voice and Arthur shot him a relieved grin.

"Great!" he beamed. "I mean, not great because I acted like a jerk but great because we're still friends, right?" he added hastily and Leon sighed.

"We're still friends" he answered in the same flat tone and Arthur frowned.

"Leon? Something you're not telling me?"

"We're fine" Leon snapped, glaring at the carpet.

"Doesn't sound like that to me" Arthur insisted. Leon still looked down on the floor and since Arthur couldn't think of any other way of catching his gaze, without resorting to violence, he dropped to his knees in front of his friend.

"Tell me, Leon" he demanded, putting his hands on Leon's knees and shaking his friend slightly. "I can't make it up to you if I don't know what's wrong." Leon let out a strangled gasp and as Arthur took in his flushed cheeks, and remembered what Merlin had said earlier, he suddenly understood.

"Oh." Arthur cleared his throat. "And I'm sorry that I've been so busy telling myself that my best friend is straight, and that I shouldn't fancy him, to notice that he might, in fact, actually be interested in me?" The last part came out as a hesitant whisper and Arthur held his breath as a slow smile spread over Leon's face. He hauled Arthur up to sit beside him at the couch and then said:

"We're a right pair of idiots, aren't we?"

Arthur didn't answer as he was too busy kissing the living daylights out of his boyfriend.


	31. After the Winter Solstice

Author's note

So, we're finally here, at the last chapter of this one-shot collection.

31 chapters, one for each day of December, somehow it seemed fitting to end this fic on the same day as the year turns into a new one. In with the old, out with the new and all that ;-)

I just wanted to thank everyone who has read, liked and commented these short stories, it's the feedback that helps me improve my writing. So thank you all!

Here's some sweet Merthur for you, and Happy New Year!

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

* * *

**After the Winter Solstice**

The longest night and the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice is said to be a time of magic and wonders.

Merlin is about to see that it just might be true…

* * *

It was very late, or very early, depending on how you looked at things. The fire in the hearth had almost died down and only a few embers still glowed faintly. The air in the room was chilly but Merlin didn't feel the cold, covered in furs as he was. He was also covered in something else, or, more precisely, someone else. Arthur had more or less draped himself over Merlin, pressing him firmly into his chest, wrapping strong arms around his waist and slotting one of his legs in between Merlin's. There was no way that Merlin would ever be cold again. The warm feeling of Arthur's naked skin against his own would stay with him for the rest of his life.

He shifted in Arthur's embrace and winced slightly at the ache that he felt in his body. He thought back, remembered the celebration that had been held that evening and how the darkest of nights had been lit up with candles and fires and the laughter of dear friends. Then he thought of the private celebration that had started when Arthur had invited him to his chambers, and into his bed. He was no blushing virgin by any means but the way that Arthur had prepared him, slowly, patiently, both with his fingers and his tongue, had touched him deeper than ever before. With the same patience Arthur had entered him, slowly, teasingly, until none of them could wait anymore and the pace turned frantic and desperate. And when Merlin finally released, how his eyes had glowed brightly golden and he'd stiffened in fear that Arthur would pull away from him in disgust and hatred. Instead his king had stroked his sides gently, as if to calm a spooked animal, and assured Merlin that he already knew. But even as Merlin lay in Arthur's arms, sated and content, he started wondering what would happen in the morning, if Arthur had really meant what he said or if he would perhaps reconsider or…

"Shut up, Merlin" Arthur mumbled sleepily and Merlin tensed. He hadn't as much as uttered as single word, so how could...?

"I can hear you think, you know" Arthur continued. "Relax, and sleep, Merlin, nobody is going to be burnt at the stake tomorrow."

"Nor any other day?" Merlin whispered.

"No" Arthur simply answered, pressing a kiss to the nape of Merlin's neck. "Go back to sleep, you idiot."

"Your idiot" Merlin retorted as he twisted around to capture Arthur's lips.

"My idiot" Arthur acquiesced. "Now sleep." And Merlin did, safe in his lover's arms.

At the horizon, a new day was dawning.


End file.
